TRACT FROM SLICK #21 – Like magic: the story of the Ducati 916
Fabio Taglioni dictated the guidelines to his collaborators: the engine was to have two cylinders with an L-shaped layout, two-valve cylinder head, desmodromic system, and air cooling. Thus the Pantah project was born, in 1979. And it was well thought out: it had a modular structure, so the displacement could be increased by modifying only the thermal unit, without intervening on the crankcases. That engine could be fitted to the whole range by changing the displacement. From the point of view of cost and production optimization, it was a smart idea.
Here, this is a remarkable passage: the modular engine concept is part of the pragmatism – having to do a lot with few resources – that Fabio Taglioni passed on to his collaborators, becoming, generation after generation, a component of Ducati culture. At least until it entered the world of Audi. And it was by following this path that Massimo Bordi came to create, together with his collaborators, the engine that took up the legacy of the Pantah and the later 750 F1.
The 498cc twin-cylinder Pantah was so successful that 350cc and 600cc versions were later made. However, even this reaction did not convince VM Motori to change its mind; Ducati seemed destined to remain an engine manufacturer for third-party companies. But everything changed in the early 1980s, when the Castiglioni brothers began to consider buying Ducati. And IRI, which had no particular interest in keeping it, set such an attractive price that the deal went through easily. The president of IRI at that time was Romano Prodi.
The Castiglioni brothers’ Cagiva was not coming from nowhere: there was already an agreement to supply engines for some Cagiva models, Elefant and the Ala Azzurra. But between 1983 and 1984 the Castiglioni brothers had begun to think of Ducati as a factory capable of transforming into an autonomous brand, and that was a turning point: the Castiglionis had in fact reached an agreement with Massimo Tamburini, who had left Bimota at the end of 1983.
As soon as they arrived, in 1985, the Castiglioni family decided to immediately make a road replica of the 750 that was fielded in the TT championship (what would become the World Superbike Championship) so the Ducati 750 F1 with an oversized Pantah 650 engine was born.
This project was the first signal that the new Ownership wanted to give to the market: Ducati was reorganizing. Obviously it could not be enough, in fact in 1985 Claudio Castiglioni confronted the technical manager, Massimo Bordi, and the design manager, Massimo Tamburini, asking for a new project. Here, the Ducati 916 has its origin in that period: because there the foundations were laid for the Desmoquattro engine.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENGINE
Today it even makes one smile to think back to the path that led to the Desmoquattro project. It seems obvious that the 4-valve cylinder head represented a great step forward, for the entire Ducati production, yet at the time in Borgo Panigale not everyone thought so. And among them was Fabio Taglioni. In fact, within the technical department-the R&D of that period-a high-level confrontation was ignited: on one side was the veteran, Taglioni, defending his 2-valve, and on the other side was the young up-and-comer, Bordi, convinced along with his group of technicians of the goodness of the 4-valve cylinder head. So between 1985 and the early part of 1986, the showdown between the orthodox of the 2-valve and the innovators of the 4-valve was unleashed in Ducati.
Old Taglioni was certain: “Two, not one more!” Young Bordi had no doubt: “The future is 4!” The younger man was right, but, as is often the case, the dispute was settled by a threat that came from outside: the conflicting engineers discovered that, while they were debating technical issues, there were those among the management who wanted to have a 4-valve engine made externally but without the desmodromic system. This horrified Taglioni and alarmed Bordi, because the only solution on which the two agreed was the use of the Desmo system.
So the quarreling stopped, a small group was formed and, remaining fairly covered, took action. Under Bordi’s supervision, there were those who set about designing the new engine at home, so as not to let anyone know what was going on, and that’s how the drawings of the twin-cylinder engine that went to equip an unreleased 748 i.e., the laboratory bike in 1986 participated in the Bol d’Or, came about. And it was another seminal moment in Ducati’s history.
INTO THE FUTURE
The new twin-cylinder also came from the same family: partly because there was no money to throw away, plus Bordi had the foresight not to erase what had been done before. He developed the new engine from its origin-Taglioni’s 2-valve head-making it modern. He left the L pattern unchanged and kept the desmodromic system while introducing the four-valve head, water cooling, and the injection system (made by Weber Marelli). It was the beginning of a resounding path: from there came the 851 project (derived from the 748 i.e. then completed in mid-1987) from which came the 888. And finally, the 916.
From a technical point of view, a way had to be found to make 4 valves and desmodromic distribution coexist inside the cylinder head. Four valves per cylinder is a solution that imposed the placement of the spark plug in the center, but in this way it seemed there was no space left to accommodate the Desmo. The problem was solved this way: the barrel inside which the spark plug is housed was used as a support for the rocker arms.
As a young man, Massimo Bordi had two reference designs. The first was the Cosworth 4-valve engine (an 8-cylinder that at the time could compete with the 12-cylinder Ferrari) whose efficiency he admired (considering the engineering point of view). His explanation was this: “The performance of the Cosworth was mainly due to the flat pistons, the very narrow angle between the valves, the straight intake manifold, and in Formula 1 the engine in the past was 2-valve and then 3-valve. In a 2-valve or 3-valve engine the spark plug is usually not in the right position, whereas in the 4-valve it is exactly in the center, so that combustion is in the best conditions for faster performance. So my goal was to have a 4-valve with desmodromic control. I really liked Taglioni’s 2-valve Desmo solution, so my idea was a combination of these two solutions.”.
He made the Desmoquattro engine by choosing a 40-degree angle between the valves. More importantly, it was one of the first motorcycle engines to feature an advanced fuel injection system: in fact, Bordi was inspired by the system that equipped the Ferrari F40. The engine at first, under operating conditions, had a power output of about 100 hp: from there, the power was increased in parallel with the displacement. From 748cc it went to 851cc, power increased to 115 hp.
WITH MY HEART IN MY THROAT
Studies on the four-valve cylinder head began in September 1985, and in March ’86 the project was moved to the modelers’ offices. September, with the Bol d’Or, was very close but no one was demoralized. The working group stopped considering weekends, even some gave up their August vacation.
The challenge was a big one: Ducati, that is, actually a group of engineers from the Technical Department, would field its first 4-valve engine in the race, but also its first water-cooled and electronically injected engine. It was a big risk.
The 748cc engine (hence the name, 748 i.e.) went to the dyno in August, immediately revealing just under 100 horsepower.
In early September, a sort of test team was assembled and set off for Mugello. The 748 i.e. faced its first test on the track, with Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Farnè. Given the innovation represented by the initiation power supply, some technicians from Weber, the supplier of the system, also participated in the test: it was an important moment for them as well. And Fabio Taglioni, who seemed to have come to terms with the 4V head, was also there. It was a test without appeal: there was no time to conduct another one, because the Bol d’Or and Le Castellet were just around the corner: so the Ducati team left for France without knowing what to expect. The lineup consisted of Marco Lucchinelli, Virginio Ferrari and Juan Garriga. In the race the 748 i.e. stopped after 13 hours, due to a broken connecting rod. And they were all hurt. Because among themselves they said they didn’t know what to expect, but they all thought they would make a good impression.
But Ducati’s rebirth began with that episode. The debacle turned into the first steps for the Bolognese company’s return to racing in a direct way. That challenge, but especially the effort to set up a new-generation engine in a short time, was not directed at winning the Bol d’Or. And the Castiglioni brothers knew that, too.
At that time a decision had to be made on the use of the 2-valve or 4-valve head, so as to prepare the bike to be fielded in a new context: the nascent Superbike championship. In 1987 the Italian championship would debut, in 1998 the World Championship. And Ducati had the right engine: the 4-valve 748 i.e. with electronic injection, with displacement increased to 851 cc.
THEY CALLED IT 851
Since it was a matter of going to challenge Japanese companies in an entire championship, a plan to optimize the engine began.
Among the first changes, the valve spacing was changed: the diameter went from 88 to 92. The displacement increased to 850.9 cc (with a 92mm x 64mm bore and stroke), retaining the Pantah 650 crankcase, modified on the right side to accommodate the water pump. The engineers were able to achieve a power output of 115 horsepower.
In 1987 Marco Lucchinelli won the Battle of Twin at Daytona, wearing a tricolor livery and race number 618. It was from that prototype that the bike with which Ducati lined up for the start of the World Superbike Championship in 1988 was born: they named it 851 (following the custom born with the 1972 Imola 200 Miglia, according to which series-derived Ducatis were named by the engine’s displacement), and the reason it was immediately able to win is that the Desmoquattro engine was designed to take on major racing challenges.
Year after year, victory after victory, the 851cc engine was increased to 888cc (increasing the bore from 92mm to 94mm) and then to 916cc (increasing the stroke from 64mm to 66mm), ending with the 996cc (with a 98mm bore) unveiled in 1999.
At the dawn of the new millennium it was replaced to make way for the Testastretta project. The new bike, a project that cut ties with the 916 (thus also with the 851 and 888) had a displacement of 998cc, the valves were brought closer together by compacting the cylinder head. Filippo Preziosi worked on this new engine, effectively picking up the baton from Massimo Bordi. And so this project closed an era and opened a new one: ownership of Ducati passed permanently to Texas Pacific Group, Massimo Bordi left Ducati in 2000.
It was another turning point for the company, from production to organization, through racing to marketing and communications. The strengthening of the racing department, which occurred with the creation of Ducati Corse, was another big step forward. That was the period when, under the leadership of Filippo Preziosi, Ducati implemented the Desmosedici project to debut in MotoGP. Just 14 years after the Le Castellet debacle.