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Shell's technical partnership with Ducati Corse
Shell’s Technical Partnership with Ducati Corse began in 1999 when Shell supported Ducati in the Superbike World Championship. In 2003, the championship-winning collaboration began contesting the MotoGP Championship together. The partnership has gone on to become one of the strongest and most successful within the motorcycle world, having produced six World Superbike Riders’ Titles and nine Manufacturers’ Titles, along with the MotoGP Riders’ World Championship and Constructors’ World Championship title.
In 2013, Shell extended its Technical Partnership to include Pramac Racing. This followed the announcement that the Pramac squad is now an official Ducati factory-supported team. The partnership therefore encompasses four riders for the first time since it began – Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Ben Spies (Ignite Pramac Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Energy TI Pramac Racing).
Shell’s involvement in premier class motorbike racing has helped develop the Shell Advance lubricant and Shell V-Power fuel for the road so that bikers all over the world can benefit from the cutting-edge technology developed on the track. The transfer of knowledge gained from the track to Shell products for the road is central to the Technical Partnership with Ducati, where the MotoGP team provides the most extreme test bed for Shell’s products.
Scientists from Shell’s Technology Centre in Hamburg, Germany, regularly visit the Ducati factory in Bologna and are closely engaged with Ducati engineers to ensure the Shell Advance Racing lubricants and Shell V-Power fuels are optimised to power and protect the Ducati engines in MotoGP. A rigorous testing programme runs all year round, with samples from the races analysed back at the Shell laboratories to ensure constant development and performance. The fuels and lubricants developed must not only meet the sporting regulations, but match the demanding requirements of the Ducati Team itself.
Shell Advance
Ducati Corse and its Technical Partner, Shell, undertake extensive and rigorous testing of Advance formulations to gain a detailed understanding of the Desmosedici engine’s frictional characteristics and lubrication requirements. This enables the partnership to co-develop the hardware and lubricant in order to achieve maximum benefit – unlocking valuable performance whilst maintaining durability.
Shell V-Power
Alongside the continued demands for greater power and performance, fuel economy has become a major requirement within MotoGP, with bikes’ maximum fuel capacity limited to only 21 litres. Shell works with Ducati to deploy a wide range of testing techniques so as to understand the fuelling demands and combustion characteristics of the MotoGP engine and strive for the optimum balance between power and fuel economy.
“Shell’s Technical Partnership with Ducati is an invaluable component in our development of high performance products for the road. Our work with Ducati in MotoGP provides the ultimate test bed for Shell Advance motorcycle lubricants and Shell V-Power fuels, enabling a direct transfer of innovation and technology from the track to our products for the road.
Guy Lovett, Project Leader, Shell Advance Technical Partnership with Ducati
“As we enter a fifteenth successive season of technical collaboration together, Ducati and Shell are working closer than ever to get the best out of the Shell Advance lubricants and Shell V-Power fuels that power our Desmosedici GP13 machines. Having such a prestigious and experienced partner as Shell alongside us is vitally important both on and off the track.”
Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse MotoGP Project Director
