Bezzecchi’s MotoGP crew chief: ‘My best teacher was Jeremy Burgess!’

Burgess, who won 13 MotoGP titles with Rossi, Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner – taught Flamigni his basic philosophies of racing – like the KISS principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid – which the Italian still uses, despite the massive complexities of modern MotoGP.

Mat Oxley: How has your job changed since Rossi retired and you became Bezzecchi’s crew chief?

Matteo Flamigni: Before I was just – well, not just, because it’s quite an important job – controlling and taking care of all the electronic strategies: traction control, engine brake, power delivery and the other electronics, plus analysing all the data, making comparisons with other riders and stuff like that. Trying to improve the performance of the bike.

Now my job is 360 degrees because, in addition to the electronics, I take care of the dynamics of the bike – suspension settings, tyre pressure, brake configuration – so basically the bike in its entirety.

Which job do you prefer?

I like this job more because I have a complete picture of the bike. Before I was just focused on one part. Now I feel better because I control everything and have a better picture of everything. The way I am, I like to be precise, I like to have everything under control, so this job really suits me.

Who did you work with before Rossi?

I worked at Yamaha with Max Biaggi, from 2000 to 2002, and with Marco Melandri in 2003. Before that with Loris Capirossi in 1999, when he rode Honda NSR250s, and before that with Alex Barros at Gresini, with Honda NSR500s. The two-stroke era was fun, I really enjoyed it.

I started my career in World Superbikes in 1994, when I was studying electronic engineering at the University of Bologna. I did my last exams while I was working in the paddock. But my best teacher was Jeremy Burgess!

I was going to ask you about JB – what made him so good at his job?

I liked the way he approached all the situations that can happen in a GP weekend. He was always very calm, whatever happened. He said to me, “Keep smiling and don’t panic, because you can make mistakes when you panic, so just try to stay calm, look at the entire picture and try to find the best solution, the easiest, the simplest.”

JB was always very keen on keeping things simple…

Yes, this is always my rule now.

But that can’t be easy because today’s bikes are so complicated.

Yes, now it’s difficult to follow that rule but I try my best to do it.

What about JB from the human side – you were in a team of mostly Australians, with their Aussie sense of humour and lots of swearing!

For me it was fantastic because I felt immediately part of a family, part of a group. They took me on board without any problems and made me feel like one of them. Like you say, Australian humour is a bit different from European humour, so in the beginning it was a bit hard, because I didn’t really understand if they were joking or being serious. But after a few months it was OK and I felt very, very good there, I really enjoyed it.

I spoke with JB recently and he told me that electronics often made him go into races with a ‘massive cloud over his head’, because he wasn’t sure if a problem could be fixed by him or by the electronics…

Yes, it’s like this. JB trusted me 100% and let me do my job. I tried to not make mistakes and I was able to do my job without any problems with him.

Because if you messed up with JB he would tell you!

I remember a test where we tried a new electronics device to improve the bike for Valentino…

At this moment Bezzecchi comes into the room to give Flamigni a new pair of sunglasses – presumably sponsor booty – to try on. There’s lots of laughter.

…We were at Jerez, testing one of the first gyro platforms. For the first time we were trying to deliver the power by using the banking-angle data from the gyro platform. The system was quite rough, so Vale was one second slower with it.

I was in the box, sweating, trying to understand what was going on. F**k, why aren’t we faster, what can we improve and in which area? Then JB comes on the radio and says, “Take off the f**king system!” I said, “Please, no, JB, give me one more run, one more run.” He gave more one more run and luckily we were able to fix it.

More and more crew chiefs are former data and electronics engineers – is this because electronics is the most important part of getting a bike ready for a race?

I don’t want to say it’s the most important, but for sure if you know how the bike works on the electronics side it’s easier for you to set up the complete bike.

For example, you can try fixing a problem with the suspension settings – by changing the top-out spring, for example – but if the rear is sliding too much or too little during braking then you must work on the engine brake. And if you know how the engine brake works it’s easier for you to fix the problem.

Exactly, because it’s easier for most people to understand mechanics than electronics..

Yes. It’s possible to learn about electronics but it takes a long time.

What’s your usual schedule for a MotoGP weekend?

I start preparing for the weekend when I’m still at home. Normally we leave for the track on the Wednesday, so I start working on my schedule on the Thursday or Friday of the previous week and I keep working on it until Tuesday, so I have four or five days in which to prepare our schedule and first settings.

Normally I have one bike as a base and I then I have some ideas to modify the other bike, according to the characteristics of the circuit. Maybe I’ll make a longer, lower bike to improve braking, or a shorter, higher bike for more agility. So one bike is the standard reference, the other I play with to try and find better behaviour.

Another very important thing for me is looking at the tyres. I have made a [computer] program of which tyres we will try and when during the weekend. Of course I already know the allocation, so I know all the tyres and their characters. Depending on the allocation, I’ll decide, OK, we will try the soft front on Friday morning and the medium on Friday afternoon. Then we can do a race simulation for a few laps to check the behaviour, and the same for the rear…

Also, which I think makes the difference, I try to simulate all the different tyre combinations.

How do you simulate them?

By my experience and sometimes I use my computer program to find the best combination. In the end usually my brain is better. I try to take care – if I use the soft front in this session, then I cannot use it in that session, because we only have a limited number of that tyre.

Also, if Marco has a crash then I know I must switch to that used tyre from first practice or that used tyre from second practice, because if I use new tyres I won’t have enough for the race.

This way, if something happens I can immediately say to my guys, “Please bring me that tyre or that tyre,” so we don’t lose time. Like JB says, “Don’t panic”. I try to avoid the panic by working at home and having everything ready: if this happens, we do this, if that happens, we do that.

So even if there’s chaos, you have a plan?

Always, because it’s a problem if the mechanics see the chief mechanic in a panic.

At this point Bez comes back in with another pair of sunnies for Flamigni to try. More laughter.

What about your electronics strategies – how do you start the weekend?

Normally we make a base from the previous year at that circuit and from the previous event – then we try to stay in that area without exiting too much from there.

Now we know what Marco likes, which helps a lot. For example, he likes the bike to slide into corners, so we try to introduce this kind of behaviour from the beginning of the weekend.

How has the new format for the sprint races changed things?

This format makes everything very tough, especially for the mechanics, because from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon they never stop, especially on Saturday, from free practice, immediately into qualifying, then immediately preparing the bike for the sprint race. Then another race on Sunday. And if you have some crashes it’s even more difficult.

Are you already in qualifying mode from first practice?

Yes, we do one time attack with soft tyres on Friday morning and two in the afternoon. Now the time we have to set up the bike is very, very narrow. We have free practice on Saturday morning, but the conditions won’t be the same as they are for the race. Before the format made more sense, now it’s trickier.

How does current data collection compare to the 1990s?

It’s another world! Now we have more than 400 channels, plus a lot of mathematical channels that come from calculations between different sensors. Sometimes when we record everything we have 700 to 750 channels, including the calc channels, but you can have 1000 if you like.

It must be easy to get lost, if you’re not careful.

That’s true, but in end when you work with a factory like Ducati or any of the other big brands you have a group of engineers taking care of one part of the channels and other groups taking care of other channels, so it’s not just one person’s job.

How do you make sure your rider doesn’t get confused by all the data?

You only show the rider a few easy channels. For the rider it’s important to look at throttle opening, banking angle, not too many things. Or maybe Pecco [Bagnaia, factory Ducati rider] is braking with two bar more here and he’s braking ten metres deeper there. Stuff like that.

That always amazes me – that the rider has to go out and apply that: OK, I’m going into this corner at 300km/h and I need to use two bar more front brake pressure at this point in braking…

Yes, it’s amazing. The good think about having eight Ducatis on the grid is that you can compare eight different riders, and that makes the difference.

We hear a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, so do you use either of these to help you?

In a very small way. I like to do it and I do it at home, playing with AI and asking it questions.

How much time do ride-height devices take to set up from race to race?

Not so much. You just have to take care of the speed they go down and come back up. You can select different damping speeds, so you pretty much set them up like you set up suspension.

How do Rossi and Bezzecchi compare?

They are very similar in how they spend a lot of time trying to improve their own performance by looking at the data, comparing themselves with other riders and then trying to do what the other riders are doing better.

All the VR46 riders have a bit of Rossi in them, but it seems to me that Bezzecchi is most similar in character.

At the moment, yes. I remember Vale – at that stage of his career he was also like this – always funny, happy, but then he changed because you need to be more focused on the job. Marco is the same – now he’s in his second year in MotoGP he has already started thinking more. Before it was more instinct.

What’s the best moment of your career so far?

For sure I can say I didn’t expect such a nice second part of my career, after working for Valentino for 18 years. I’m a bit surprised, in a positive way, because after working for Valentino – f**king hell – what can happen to me? I can’t do better than that!

But now I can say that I am really enjoying this moment. I’m very happy to be with Marco. What he did as a rookie last year and this year in Argentina and at Le Mans has given me something unbelievable. It’s my second life and it’s started in a good way!