DUCATI LEAD DEVELOPMENT RIDER ALESSANDRO VALIA
P70
Interview
You were a very accomplished racer in your own
right. Tell us a little about that.
Yes. World Superbike in 2002. I was Italian Super-
stock Champion in 2002, and then I started with the
development of the factory bike, Ducati 999, in 2003.
It was the same position Michele Pirro occupies now.
We worked on the development of the engine, the chas-
sis and all the package of the bike that won the world
championship with Neil Hodgson in 2003.
That's become a very famous bike, the 999.
What was good about that bike? At the time, it was
so different to the 916, 998 eras.
It was a big jump in terms of engine. It was more agile
in comparison with the 998 but stable at the same time.
So, I think it was a really good, fast bike.
Jumping from the World Superbikes and with
your test riding skills, when did you then move to
the production side of things?
In 2007 I moved to the production bikes and I started
immediately with a masterpiece—the Ducati Desmosedi-
ci RR. It was my first love in the production of Ducati
Motor Holding. It was really a great bike—very exotic.
The first week with this new work, I understood the
strength of the brand Ducati, because when I test it on a
normal road, everyone was there, everyone was excited
when they see this bike. It was incredible to ride this
bike on a normal road.
(Right) Valia hard
at work on the
uber-exclusive
Superleggera V4
at Portimao in
Portugal. (Left)
In talks with SBK
development
engineer Carlo Ricci
Maccarini at the
Bologna factory.
Valia's first production
development project
was none other
than the
Desmosedici
D16RR of
2006.
