VOLUME 59 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 4, 2022 P83
partnership is very important
because it's the fuel for our
research, for our development,
and our young engineers are
taking this opportunity to grow.
Are there a lot of people that
want to come and work for
Pirelli and develop the new
technologies for the next gen-
eration of motorcycles?
Salvo:
Yes. The Pirelli name is
of course very well-known in Italy.
Many young engineers, many
universities are attracted by Pirelli.
We have many opportunities to
decide who can work for us or
not. They are really interested to
the philosophy of Pirelli, but as
well, Ducati is giving them an op-
portunity to develop their careers.
So, of course, this is a period of
big change. For young engineers,
a company like Ducati, like Pirelli,
provide big opportunities. It's also
great for the universities. We have
a strong cooperation with a lot of
important universities.
Francesco: It's a dual system.
The student can do the school
and work with us, especially in
the summer. But there is a lot of
cooperation with the university.
We all work within the Motor
Valley, which is the manufactur-
ing home for many great Ital-
ian brands. There are no other
places in the world where you
have Maserati, Ferrari, Lambo-
rghini, Ducati, Imola, Misano, all
in the range of 200 kilometers.
Tell us about the evolution of
Ducati over the last 20 years
Francesco:
I have been in
the company since 1999 when
I started as a young engineer.
At that time the company was
owned by Texas Pacific Group
and, among many positive things
they implemented, they had the
wisdom to leverage young and
international pool of talents.
(Left) We tested
Metzeler's latest
ADV tires aboard the
Ducati Multistrada
V4 S in Iceland's
Highlands. (Right)
Francesco Milicia
believes Audi/
Volkswagen is the
perfect partner
to Ducati, saying,
"(they) leave the
autonomy and
Italian flavor to the
company, providing
financial stability and
they have a long term
approach common to
the German culture."
