INTERVIEW I FRANCESCO MILICIA AND SALVO PENNISI
P86
experiences, more than just a
motorcycle producer.
What about new technologies
in tires, for example? We're
now seeing motorcycles that
are being more and more
connected. Tires obviously are
better now than they have ever
been. What do you think will
be the next thing that we'll see
in terms of tire development
for the next 10-20 years?
Salvo:
For sure we will con-
tinue to use the standard devel-
opment of the tires. That means
continuing to develop new
compounds, new material, new
process and so on. The real new
frontier for us will be to connect
the tires with the motorcycle, to
connect the tires with the safety
system. We are calling this
project Cyber Tires. We have a
division inside our company that
is called the Cyber Tires division.
It's developing components
inside the tires that will connect
with the motorcycle, with the
system of control of the motorcy-
cle, and also our dream is it will
connect with the safety system,
like air bags and so on.
In our dream, our tire is a
component that will inform the
riding system of the motorcycle
about the condition of the road,
about the condition of grip of
the tire itself, so that real-time
information can be relayed to the
motorcycle's on board system so
it can best evaluate the setup.
Are you developing electric
components within the tire?
Salvo:
Yes, sensors. We are
working with top industries in
the sensor system development.
Already in our car department,
we have seen good results. The
cooperation with McLaren is
giving us very good results. Now
we wanted to develop these
technologies on the motorcycle.
For sure, Ducati will be the first
partner to who we will assist
this kind of development, and
Dainese also. Our concept is to
have three excellent Italian
companies combine their tech-
nologies.
How much of a development
link is there still within rac-
ing? The Japanese manufac-
turers seem to be moving in
a different direction. We're
seeing it happen with Suzuki
pulling out of MotoGP.
Francesco:
We have an
obsession for the continuous
