Franco Farné, 1934-2015

The Old Guard is fading away. It’s all so natural. Time is simply taking its toll, but every new loss hurts more than the last.

Franco Farnè is definitely one of the saddest to me personally, and to legions of Ducati enthusiasts everywhere. Franco was second only to Doctor Taglioni as a symbol of Ducati's enormous determination, grit, inventiveness, hard work, and dedication to challenge the giants of the motorcycle industry.

Naturally, this started on the racetrack. Franco was hired by Ducati in 1951 and spent all his professional life in Borgo Panigale. His first job was that of test rider for the production mopeds and bikes. In 1954, Fabio Taglioni came to Ducati as the Chief Project Engineer and he immediately took Franco under his wing, first as a member of the factory racing team.

Franco was fast, determined, and very capable at honing his bike to its potential best. He won races and a couple of Italian championships in the 100cc and 125cc classes. In 1959, he came to Daytona and won the 250cc 100-mile race.

Franco Farnè and Fabio Taglioni were the pillars of Ducati success from the '50s thru the '80s.

Taglioni soon detected Farnè’s great qualities as tester and tuner and took him out of racing to make him one of the top men in the R&D department, which at that time was acting also as racing department. There, he assisted Taglioni to make desmodromic valve operation practical for regular production bikes. During the 1960s, Farnè came over to New Jersey to work for the Berliner Brothers, importers of Ducati.

With friend Reno Leoni, Farnè contributed to the creation of the new 350cc single. Reno remained with the Berliner organization while Franco returned to Italy. All through the 1960s, Farnè tuned the Ducati 250 and 350 singles to make them great competitors in the Italian GPs. In the early 1970s, when the great Ducati 90-degree V-twin was taking shape, Farnè was there, honing it in endless hours of dyno tests. I remember him leading his colleagues in the racing department in that incredible effort that led to the legendary victory in the Imola 200.

But not all was cheers and popping corks. Endurance races were too much for the Ducati engines. They won at the 24 Hours of Montjuich, but never won prestigious Bol d’Or. Farnè was working full time, without rest and with immense determination, never giving up and overcoming incredible odds. His frustration was almost hurting me because he just loved Ducati, “his” bikes and “his” men.

Franco Farnè assists Kenny Roberts during the short ride on the 750 F1 racer.

But the old bevel gear gave him lots of rewards, such as when legendary Mike Hailwood won the Isle of Man TT. Always in perfect tune with Dr. T, Farnè developed and tuned to perfection the Pantah 500 and then evolved it first to 650cc and then to 750cc, the 750 F1 and TT1 racer that dominated the class. When King Kenny Roberts secretly went to the Misano track to test the Cagiva 500 GP bike, Taglioni and Farnè showed up with their 750 F1 racer. At the time, Ducati was part of the Cagiva Group, and they approached the King to ask him if he was willing to take a few laps on their twin. When Roberts, with great sportsmanship, agreed to help, I could count the thumps of their hearts from 10 feet away.

When Massimo Bordi took over from Taglioni, Farnè again was first in line to help with the development and fine tuning of the 851 4-valve Desmo. And from then on, he was involved at every developmental step. As chief mechanic of the new Racing Department, Farnè was the man behind the endless row of Superbike victories and world titles won by the Ducati 4-valve Desmo in all its variations and in the hands of different riders: Raymond Roche, Doug Polen, Carl Fogarty, Troy Corser.

With his great mechanical ability, clever intuition, immense determination, and hard work, Franco Farnè contributed tremendously to the hard transition that took Ducati from the romantic years of the 125 Marianna to the high-tech present. Farnè was always able to adjust to increasingly sophisticated technologies thanks to his incredibly sharp technical mind and eagerness to enlarge his knowledge and professional competence.

Thankfully, his determination and positive character are embedded into the walls of the Ducati Racing Department, where they will continue to inspire and guide young engineers for generations. Goodbye, Franco; may your current teammates on the Ducati Superbike Team bring home a title for you.