On the occasion of Pirelli Day at Misano, which took place on the Monday following Bulega’s triumphant weekend in the World SBK Championship, we interviewed Max Damiani, Pirelli’s Racing Manager and a well-known figure among fans.
We spoke with Damiani about what Pirelli’s involvement in the World SBK Championship has meant, as well as how the company will continue to maintain a very close connection with production-based racing— the perfect testing ground for continuing to develop the tyres that are then purchased by enthusiasts around the world.
Starting in 2027, Pirelli will no longer be in SBK and will begin a new chapter in MotoGP. What do you think is the legacy of these years in SBK for Pirelli?
“I don’t like to talk about a legacy, partly because this chapter dedicated to production-based racing doesn’t actually end here. The chapter with the World SBK Championship is certainly coming to a close—that much is clear. But from a technical standpoint, this isn’t the end of a cycle for us, because it’s a cycle of continuous development. The world of production-based racing, if I may say so, belongs to us—it’s our home. So, in fact, we have absolutely no intention of abandoning this world.”
How will Pirelli’s commitment to production-based racing continue?
"Nicolò Bulega treated us to yet another masterpiece from a sporting standpoint at Misano. What you see here are the solutions he used over the weekend that just ended. We’ve always used Superbike to develop our products over the years, and we’ll continue to do so in the coming years because we’ll be present in the major national championships dedicated to production-based racing. Spain, the BSB, and Germany come to mind.”
Will the approach remain the same?
"Everything we’ve applied and learned over the years in the World Superbike Championship, we’ll translate into the national championships I mentioned, so the development process won’t stop—in fact, it will continue. It’s just that the stage will be different, in championships that are of the very highest level."
Was there a single comment about the tyres or a particular incident that stands out in your memory from SBK?
"I arrived here in 2019 and was amazed by all the feedback in general—not particularly by any single incident. Certainly, ever since we introduced softer compounds to the lineup, the feedback from the riders has been extremely positive. We’ve seen track records drop significantly and rider feel reach truly incredible levels. If we look at the Misano races, for example, Bulega maintained a pace that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.”
Ross Brawn hated tyre engineers because, with a single compound, they managed to shave half a second off the lap time in F1.
“Yes, this is a privilege we tyre engineers have, and it applies to both two- and four-wheeled racing. Sometimes we come up with solutions that shave off those tenths of a second—solutions that might have cost the manufacturers hours in the wind tunnel or running simulations. Now this advantage has diminished somewhat because predictive models and finite element calculations have reduced this phenomenon to some extent, but in certain areas it’s still present. But there’s also the flip side, as Cesare Fiorio once said: ‘You tyre specialists never win—because when the teams win, it’s because they’re good; when they lose, it’s always your fault.’ So there’s also the other side of the coin . "