Interview with the new Honda sports director Livio Suppo

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Interview with the new Honda sports director Livio Suppo

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Interview with the new Honda sports director Livio Suppo

Interview Livio Suppo
Interview with the new Honda sports director

Livio Suppo was the manager of Ducati Corse for eleven years. For MOTORRAD he sums up the highlights – from “Brainstorm” of the brave move from Michelin to Bridgestone, dated “phenomenon” Casey Stoner to his reasons for switching to Honda despite all the success.

Michael Rohrer

03/04/2010

How everything began
“The change from 500 two-stroke to four-stroke engines in the top GP class from 2002 aroused the interest of Ducati. We were the kings of four-stroke racing with numerous World Superbike titles, but we had never ventured into GP racing. So do we want to be a big fish in the pond or a small one in the sea? Technically not an easy decision either.
Ducati Corse director Claudio Domenicali and chief technician Filippo Preziosi were smart enough not to let the tradition of the house dictate them. A two-cylinder did not fit the new MotoGP regulations. With four cylinders we were immediately competitive. After all, important Ducati traditions were retained, for example the tubular steel frame and the desmodromic. It has long been shown how valuable the MotoGP participation is for Ducati was. It was a guarantee for the technical efficiency of the company. Just proving that racing helps sell motorcycles was hard to compete in MotoGP. The Ducati marketing department had previously determined in a study that every GP podium rank means 50 additional motorcycles sold. But if you have nothing good to offer, you won’t sell anything even if you win all the races. In 2007 we presented the 1098 and won the MotoGP title at the same time. That year we sold more Supersport models than ever before.”

The debut
“In December 2002 we flew to Australia for private tests. Loris Capirossi did a racing simulation there, using the Michelin tires from 2003. He was faster than Rossi when he won the GP a few months earlier, with an incredible best time.”

Bridgestone
“In the first year of 2003 Loris took fourth place in the World Cup, we celebrated nine podium places in total, Ducati came second in the Brand World Championship and, for example, embarrassed Yamaha, who had been successful in GP racing for years. Expectations for 2004 were correspondingly high, but we experienced one setback after another – perhaps because of the switch from 17 “to 16.5” front tires.

After the 2004 Portugal GP, I compared the following: there was Valentino Rossi, who won eleven or twelve races a year, another top driver named Sete Gibernau, who won maybe four times and wanted to come to Ducati for a lot of money, and then there was a certain Makoto Tamada who, although not able to win the Japanese Superbike Championship, had already taken a GP victory and came second in Portugal behind Rossi. So his bridge-stone tires had to be better than our Michelin. We didn’t have a top three result in 2004. If it had continued like this, the sponsors would have lost interest: the game would have been over. Domenicali and Preziosi were stunned when I suggested the move. From a technical point of view, it was considered crazy back then to go by Michelin Bridgestone to go. But detailed analysis showed that the Japanese tires were actually better. And we promptly won two GPs again in 2005.”

Valentino Rossi
“The only serious negotiations between Ducati and Rossi took place in late 2003. He eventually switched from Honda to Yamaha, which many believed was an oversized risk because of the infamous M1 machine. But Rossi played with the opponents and easily took a second off them on the last lap with worn tires, even with the Yamaha. He has the talent to drive this second faster than the rest of the world, plus the intelligence not to always play out this superiority. We would have loved to see him with us, even though we already had contracts with Capirossi and Bayliss and should have built a third motorcycle for Rossi. There were many reasons why it didn’t work out in the end, but most importantly because Vale wanted to prove himself on the Yamaha, a motorcycle that was considered a pile of iron. In terms of driving, he was able to prove more than on a Ducati.”

Casey Stoner
“The biggest mistake in my career at Ducati was not getting the contract with Casey wrapped up in 2005. We spoke to his father in Brno but were afraid of signing a MotoGP newcomer. It was also not yet so obvious that a good 250cc pilot could go fast with a 1000cc right away. We were still in the era of “Senators” like Max Biaggi, Alex Barros or Gibernau, all over 30 years old. That’s why we had more confidence in someone like Sete, who has already been runner-up in the world twice. That was the mistake, because today I am convinced that Casey would have won the title with us in 2006. After a few good MotoGP races that year on a private Honda, he was in close contact with Yamaha. But his second half of the season went less well, and in the end both sides were lucky: He was without a job and we without a driver, so we got together after all.

The 2009 season, with Casey’s two-month break from racing, was very difficult. It was really worrying to see how miserable he was after the races, a guy who had never had any health problems before. We were seriously upset because Casey was doing really badly. The decision to protect him drew heavy criticism, but in the end it turned out to be the right one.”

The change from Ducati to Honda
“After eleven years with Ducati, I needed a new challenge. Honda is Honda, the benchmark in GP racing over the years. I started working with HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) and the Benetton 125 team in 1995, the new job is kind of homecoming.
What Honda expects from me is better organization of marketing and all that that entails. This is exactly how my involvement at Ducati began: in 1999 we set up the marketing department at Ducati Corse. At the time, we were the only manufacturer with a marketing department that fully concentrated on racing and focused all our efforts on sponsorship and licensing. At Ducati, for example, there is not a single fairing design that has not been discussed with the marketing department. In contrast, the Honda fairing is so small that not much advertising can be placed on it. But my main task is beyond the MotoGP paddock. HRC is one of the most illustrious names on the scene. But outside of our world, there is still a lot to do to make these three letters better known.”

New HRC factory drivers
“In this regard, 2010 will be very exciting: the contracts with their teams for all four top drivers are running out. Everyone will talk to everyone. Of course, Valentino Rossi’s decision will be the most important one on which the other moves will depend. I hope he will stay true to the MotoGP sport. Of course, everything is still completely open. It has been said many times lately that I was hired by HRC because I have a good relationship with Casey Stoner and could bring him to Honda. Just a few months ago, however, it was said that I had left Ducati because I was in trouble with him.
What is certain is that Honda will try everything to return to its old strength and meet the high expectations of the fans. Since the official return to motorcycle GP racing in 1982, Honda has won more than 50 percent of possible world titles. With a history like that, people just expect you to win.”

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