Hello, my name is Lanzi, Lorenzo Lanzi. image by jim mcdermott

Your beloved Soup recently sat down at Imola for a chat with Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati Corse's sole 749R pilot in the World Supersport Championship. Lanzi, who finished up the season in an excellent 5th place, will be racing alongside Regis Laconi and Eric Bostrom in this weekend's AMA Superbike finale at VIR. There are strong rumors that Lanzi will end up racing the full AMA SBK Championship next year, as he was quite fast in summer tests of the 999F04 on Michelin tires.

We sat with the likeable 23 year old Italian and got to know him a bit, while Ducati Corse PR man Julian Thomas translated from Italian (and interjected on a few issues as well.)

Soup: The tracks and facilities in America are very different from the European tracks where you have been racing for most of your career. Are you looking forward to racing at VIR, and do you have any anxieties about racing in America?

LL: Well, this seems like a very safe track, and I like it a lot.

Soup: What do you think your chances are in the race? Last year Bussei would have gotten second, but mistook the white flag for a checkered. Do you think you will finish on the podium?

LL: The tests went very well, the Michelins are working fantastic, which is important. We're going to go there to get a good result; we're not going to say we're going to win the race, because each race has a story of its own, but a top four finish could be in the cards.

Soup: What are the differences in racing the 749R vs. the 999 Factory Bike?

LL: Everything. Everything is different because the 749R is basically a road bike, and the 999F04 is a pure racing bike. You go faster on the straight, entering the curve, during the curve, and firing out of a curve. But for me it is not easy this year because I am going to jump from one bike to another, and I have not managed to get a good feel for the 999 yet, and I am going to have to do the race weekend. I did the testing, then was back on my Supersport bike, doing the race weekend, so it was not easy for me.

Soup: Do you feel it is to your advantage that, due to the weather postponement of VIR, that you got the time to finish the Supersport season, and then concentrate on VIR? Did the hurricane make the timing better?

LL: Yeah, that's good, it gets rid of all the thoughts in my head, finish the Supersport Championship (season), the go race at VIR with no other thoughts, because of Hurricane Ivan.

Soup: (To Julian Thomas) And I guess this will be better for Corse because Eric Bostrom should be fit for VIR as well.

JT: We're aiming for Eric and Lorenzo to be the two riders. (Note--this interview was done prior announcement that Laconi would also race at VIR).

LL: Eric will probably want to win the race, he is the number one rider, and he knows the 999 with Michelins better than I. And he knows VIR!

Soup: So let's talk about the plans for where you will ride next year Lorenzo. There are rumors about whether Eric will stay with Corse Ducati in AMA or go, and who the Corse riders will be in AMA next year. If you do well at VIR, do you think there is a chance that you will ride in the AMA SBK Championship next year?

LL: Ducati is giving me a great opportunity to ride SBK in America at VIR, and I'm sure Ducati will do with me--because I am a Ducati contracted rider--whatever they think is the best thing for me next year, so I can grow as a rider. I am contracted to Ducati for 2005.

Soup: Many WSBK riders have been given the opportunity to ride in the AMA over the years, but perhaps perceived it a step backwards from WSBK. In your heart, would you prefer to continue racing World Supersport as an eventual step to World Superbike, or do you feel AMA Superbike will be an effective route back into racing WSBK?

LL: It's a delicate moment, because we're not sure what the plans will be for next year, but in 2006 the tire manufacturers may come back, and this could be a good opportunity to work one year with Michelin.

JT: And I'll chime in here, it's a good opportunity for us to get development work on Michelin with more than one rider. It's always better to have two riders in a top championship doing development.

Soup: Moving onto the 749R--it seems to be a very fast bike in terms of top speed, compared to the Japanese factory rivals. The bike is often 4 to sometimes 9 Kmph faster in trap speed than the other bikes. In the beginning of the season, you had some promising results, with several 4th place finishes. Then in the middle of the year, it seemed things got more difficult. At Imola things seem to be turning around (Lanzi got hard fought 4th places at both Imola and Magny Cours). Did something change mid season--did the Japanese bike develop at a faster pace than the 749?

LL: No, they worked just as hard as we have.

JT: I will add as well--most probably next year, Ducati will not be officially involved in World Supersport. We will continue on the development work, because it will be another team who do it for us in World Supersport, but Ducati will not be involved as an official factory team. Development has gone on throughout the year on the bike. 2004 has been a important year for us, a learning year.

Soup: When I talked to Bussei earlier in the year, and obviously his bike was prepared differently, but he mentioned that the weight of the 749R vs. the Japanese bike was a factor.

LL; Yes, the bike weighs 5 or 6 kilos more than the Japanese bikes. One of our major problems is that in the last three years Pirelli has worked mostly with Honda in World Supersport, now the tires rules are one make in WSSP. But the same bike has won in England, in France, in the local Supersport series.

Soup: One of the other things Bussei said earlier in the season when he was racing the 749R was that the bike "pushed" in the corners. Have you encountered that problem at all?

LL: No, that has never been an issue for me.

Soup: So what would you say the main reason is for the difference in pace between the front runners in World Supersport, vs. you on the 749R?

LL: Ours is a young bike, new this year, it needs time to grow. The biggest problem is that the tires do not give the best feeling for the chassis of the bike. Because they were developed for Hondas and Yamahas in Supersport, we've had to adapt them for our bike, they were not made for the 749R. But Suzuki and Kawasaki, who were always on Dunlop, we are always ahead of them, if you look at the time sheets.

Soup: Lorenzo, what are your goals for the next couple of years?

LL: My goals are pretty high, I'd like to win the WSBK championship, and then go to MotoGP. That is the goal of every rider.

Soup: And who was your main racing hero when you were growing up.

LL: (Unhesitatingly, and with a huge smile) Kevin Schwantz. Kevin Schwantz.