Shell and Ducati mark 21st year together with renewal of winning Technical Partnership

Shell and Ducati today announced an extension of their Technical Partnership. The iconic partnership has run for over 20 years, starting in 1999 at the World Superbike Championship before expanding into MotoGP when Ducati joined the series in 2003.

The Technical Partnership between the two world-renowned brands has not only seen major success on the racetrack, but also away from track with Ducati also choosing Shell Advance motorcycle oil and Shell V-Power fuel for every Ducati road bike that leaves its factory in Bologna, Italy.

From the outset of the partnership, the famously powerful Desmosedici GP racing bikes of Ducati Corse have used Shell Advance Engine Oil. For the last four years a bespoke blend of Shell Advance with Shell’s proprietary PurePlus Technology has powered Ducati. Designed for the fast-paced action on the MotoGP racetrack, where tenths of seconds separate the frontrunners in the field, Shell Advance is formulated carefully to help maximise the performance of the four-stroke engine within the Desmosedici GP. It is also crucial to engine reliability over the 19 race-long season, with learnings from the track incorporated into the development of the Shell Advance motorcycle oils and Shell V-Power performance fuels used by road bikers around the world.

Since the relationship began in 1999, the Ducatisti have celebrated over 200 race wins and seven Riders’ titles in the Moto GP World Championship and the World Superbike Championship, all powered by Shell’s bespoke race formulations. This solidifies this partnership as one of the most formidable and enduring in the history of premier motorcycle racing.

Vicky Boiten-Lee, General Manager – Lubricants Marketing at Shell, said: “Shell is excited to renew this historical relationship for another three years. The renewal of this Technical Partnership with Ducati will be invaluable to the continued innovation and development of Shell Advance and Shell V-Power, using our learnings from the racetrack and providing them to bikers all over the world through our high performing and efficient products. This deal represents a clear commitment from Shell to Ducati and the Moto GP and World Superbike Series moving forward. We are proud to contribute to Ducati’s continued success, and look forward to celebrating many more race wins by their side.”

Shell Advance is bred from the knowledge that the road can be an unpredictable place. The vital learnings gained by Shell and Ducati on the track are applied to the road, providing riders’ engines with the complete protection required to allow them to outride any challenge that is thrown at them.

“The historical partnership between Shell and Ducati has been important in propelling Ducati to new levels of success over the last 20 years. Shell’s race formulations of Shell Advance and Shell V-Power have been essential in maximising the continued performance and efficiency of our Ducati engine. The technical partnership is also key in providing high quality products to our customers on the road, with Shell Advance and Shell V-Power enabling bikers across the globe to benefit from reliable and extensively tested oil and fuel formulations. We’re glad to see the partnership extended in order to continue one of the strongest relationships in motorcycle racing history as well as a strong collaboration on our road bike development”, Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding.

About Shell Lubricants
The term “Shell Lubricants” collectively refers to Shell Group companies engaged in the lubricants business. Shell sells a wide variety of lubricants to meet customer needs across a range of applications. These include consumer motoring, heavy-duty transport, mining, power generation and general engineering. Shell’s portfolio of lubricants includes Pennzoil, Quaker State, Shell Helix, Shell Advance, Shell Rotella, Shell Tellus and Shell Rimula.  We are active across the full lubricant supply chain. We manufacture base oils in seven plants, blend them with additives to make lubricants in over 40 plants, and distribute, market and sell lubricants in over 100 countries.

We also provide technical and business support to customers. We offer lubricant-related services in addition to our product range. These include: Shell LubeMatch – the market leading product on-line recommendation tool, Shell LubeAdvisor – helps customers to select the right lubricant through highly trained Shell technical staff as well as online tools, and Shell LubeAnalyst – an early warning system that enables customers to monitor the condition of their equipment and lubricant, helping to save money on maintenance and avoid potential lost business through equipment failure.

Shell’s world-class technology works to deliver value to our customers. Innovation, product application and technical collaboration are at the heart of Shell lubricants. We have lubricants research centres in China, Germany, Japan, India and the USA. We invest significantly in technology and work closely with our customers to develop innovative lubricants. We have a patent portfolio with 150+ patent series for lubricants, base oils and greases; more than 200 scientists and lubricants engineers dedicated to lubricants research and development.

Customer benefits include lower maintenance costs, longer equipment life and reduced energy consumption. One of the ways we push the boundaries of lubricant technology is by working closely with top motor racing teams such as Scuderia Ferrari and BMW Motorsport. These technical partnerships enable us to expand our knowledge of lubrication science and transfer cutting-edge technology from the racetrack to our commercial products.

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