Ducati, Domenicali outspoken on Valentino Rossi: “Cashed the blow”

The Borgo Panigale company’s CEO recalls the difficult two-year period with Valentino Rossi: “He was unmanageable.”

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali recalled in an interview with Repubblica the difficult two-year period with Valentino Rossi: “Valentino was unmanageable, we cashed the blow. When you take the most famous rider in Italy with nine world titles and you can’t win you also have an image damage.”

“I became ad in 2013, when he had just left, and I picked up the pieces. At that point you can only get back to work to start again. With Valentino for two years a lot of work was done to make changes. But if you don’t do the research in an orderly way but do it in a rush, you lose lucidity.”

On the choice of drivers, the criterion must be “always sporting, we don’t look at nationality or if it’s a character, we try to have the brand and the driver at the same level. Then of course if the drivers achieve results they gain fame, that’s natural.”