Mark Elder is not a typical MotoGP mechanic. Though he lives full-time in Europe, has a nice Italian wife and speaks fluent Italiano, Elder was born and raised in Southern California. After graduating from the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, he returned to Los Angeles and applied for a race-team job at Bartels Harley-Davidson. He got the gig. That’s when he met Ben and Eric Bostrom. In 1997, Elder tuned Eric to 10 wins and the SuperTwins title. “Just keeping those bikes running was an achievement,” laughed Bostrom.
Elder eventually moved on to Vance & Hines, where he built the engine for the Ducati 996 on which Ben beat the World Superbike regulars at Laguna Seca in 1999. One year later, when Bostrom got the call to go to Europe and compete full-time in the SBK championship, the always-upbeat Elder went along, driving Ben’s motorhome and working on his big, red Twins.
These days, the red-shirted wrench with the horn-rimmed glasses, straight-razor haircut and youthful twinkle is still elbows-deep in Ducatis, only now he’s spinning T-handles for nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi in MotoGP.
Cycle World: What is your role with the factory Ducati MotoGP team?
Mark Elder: Basically, there are four mechanics who work on the bike: one tire guy, one data guy, one electronics guy and the chief mechanic. I’m one of the four mechanics. Between the four of us, everything is shared; it gets done that way. There’s one guy on the team that does most of the gearboxes. Other than that, everyone does whatever needs to be done at the moment.
When we won the World Superbike race at Laguna with Ben, we had one chassis guy, Gary Medley. Ernesto Marinelli was the engineer for both riders—Anthony Gobert and Ben. Because the team was so small—three or four people to do everything—I was a much bigger part of the picture.
The bigger the team, the less effect you have on the result. Obviously, now, there are a lot of people. We have the whole factory behind us, making the parts, putting engines together. I’m a smaller part of the picture, so it’s slightly less gratifying. But it’s a bit more exciting because you’re on a bigger stage and everything is amplified due to the size and weight of the series.
CW: You’re not building engines anymore. Do you still encounter technical challenges?
ME: Anybody can ruin any race at any time. If you leave something loose, it’s done. All the technology that goes into the bike, it comes down to a mechanic to make sure that it’s tight or put on right, not going to break or whatever.
On this team, everyone is involved with the setting of the bike, so we all go out and have a beer after practice or before dinner and talk about what we did, why we did it and what we think we should do.
You find different ways to keep it interesting. It’s not the same as it was when I was building engines for either the Harleys or the Ducatis, but it’s not just parts changing, either.
CW: Have you enjoyed working side-by-side with Jeremy Burgess, Rossi’s chief engineer?
ME: Jerry is a great guy. Part of his strength is his style of communicating with Valentino and his style of working. He keeps things simple and tries not to confuse himself, the rider or anybody else. He’s got a very logical way of working. He’s very open: “Hey, why did we do that?” He’s happy to tell you why we made a change or hear suggestions of what anybody else thinks. He’s great to work with. And he’s a pleasant guy— friendly and open.
CW: Rossi debuted the “GP11.1” chassis at Assen. When asked what’s new on the bike, Team Manager Vito Guareschi replied, “Everything but the wheels, brakes and fork,” or words to that effect. Is the bike really that different?
ME: It’s definitely different when you see it all in pieces or the individual parts. The ideas are similar to the way they’ve always been, I think.
Valentino liked the chassis when we tested the 1000cc bike. Basically, it was all positive comments. We’re struggling now, and I can’t say exactly why, but it could just be a fact that we need to work on it some more. It is different. It is new. Whether it’s better or not, we have to wait and see.
Getting new parts is always good, because you hope you’re going in the right direction. Now, it’s kind of like starting over. I’m optimistic.
CW: What could Casey Stoner do on the Ducati that others couldn’t or can’t?
ME: Casey worked with the bike for four years. He knew the bike well and developed the bike the way he wanted to ride it. It ended up being a bike that, I think, was difficult to ride, even for him. Last year, he crashed in five races. The bike wasn’t that comfortable. He also won some races. But there was something wrong. In five years, no one’s been able to ride the bike as fast as he could. It is a strange bike, and he was able to adapt to it better than anybody else.
I think Ducati is trying to adapt the bike to Valentino’s style. Given his physical state and the limited testing time, we knew that it was going to take a while for him to get to know the bike. The first tests we did maybe weren’t all that productive because his shoulder was so bad. It was only, probably, at Le Mans, where he was close to being in good shape.
Now, we’ve got a brand-new bike for him.
