Ducati may have now joined the Japanese manufacturers in building a twin-spar aluminium frame for its
MotoGP prototype, but the factory's trademark Desmodromic valve system will not be sacrificed.
That was the pledge of new Ducati Corse general manager Bernhard Gobmeier, speaking at the Ducati/Ferrari Wrooom Press Ski Meeting on Wednesday.
"There is no reason to change an engine that works and is part of Ducati's history," the official
MotoGP website quotes Gobmeier as saying. "As long as the rules allow it, we'll remain with the same Desmodromic configuration.
"And the bike should be rideable for everyone. It should not just be a motorcycle that
Casey Stoner can win on. We will not copy a Yamaha, and will stick with the Ducati philosophy."
Yamaha and Honda, which have divided all the
MotoGP race victories for the past two seasons, both use pneumatic valve systems for their
MotoGP engines.
All
MotoGP engines have four-cylinders: Honda and Ducati use a V configuration and Yamaha an Inline layout.
Gobmeier, a former Superbike director at BMW, has been brought in by Ducati's new owner Audi to take over from Filippo Preziosi.
"Of course we will use [Preziosi's] experience," continued Gobmeier. "We are in contact and we both want Ducati to win. His new role will also provide a channel of communication between the Racing Department and Production.
"In addition to Filippo, I must say that there are other great engineers within Ducati that have great ideas as well."
Gobmeier added that Ducati plans to gather more information on last year's developments before introducing 'new solutions' later this year.
"I prefer to speak about evolution rather than revolution and with this in mind first we want to evaluate the material developed in the second half of last year," he said.