For most young riders coming up through the ranks, access to the kind of in-depth performance data analysis used by professional MotoGP teams has traditionally been out of reach. But the Lenovo V2 Future Champ Academy – Garage 51 | DUCATI is closing the gap by providing rising talent with access to advanced tools and insights from an early stage in their development.
Created by Ducati, Michele Pirro, and Garage 51, the Lenovo V2 Future Champ Academy – Garage 51 | DUCATI aims to identify the next generation of racing stars and then provide a structured growth pathway to create a pool of Ducati talent.
The program, set across six championship rounds and three official tests, helps riders develop their on-track performance, as well as the personal and communications skills needed to compete at a professional level. As Title Partner, Lenovo brings its technology and motorsport expertise to the Academy, helping make advanced performance insights and innovative tools available to support rider development.
Michele Pirro, co-creator and ambassador of the Lenovo V2 Future Champ Academy – Garage 51 | DUCATI said: “Lenovo’s role in this Academy goes far beyond technology – providing a partnership that works together with us to provide the riders with the tools needed to help them develop. Working closely with our riders, I have seen firsthand how data-driven insights are essential to the growth of young talent. This is why we introduced Lenovo Race Performance Analysis: having this access early on will help them build the habits and awareness they require at a professional level.”
Through ‘Lenovo Race Performance Analysis’, a proprietary AI-based solution powered by a Lenovo ThinkStation P8 workstation, official timing data is turned into clear, visual insights. The solution gives riders the ability to see lap-time trends, performance stability, and sector-by-sector mapping that shows exactly where time is gained or lost on track, and compare their performance with that of any rival on the grid – a key tool for identifying opportunities for improvement and making strategic decisions. Using Lenovo ThinkBook PCs, riders access the solution both in preparation for and throughout each race weekend, analyzing their performance and refining their strategy for every session.
“Lenovo Race Performance Analysis represents a major step forward, allowing us to easily analyse and compare our performance throughout a race weekend directly from our laptops. Race pace, speed and many other parameters can be accessed quickly and intuitively. It is an extremely useful tool for us riders, as we are always looking for new ways to analyse our performance and improve, both on and off the track,” commented Devis Bergamini, Team Bull Bikes – WRS, currently in the championship fight, just three points behind the leader with one round to go.
Even less experienced riders have already embraced the new solution, as described by Andrea Mercaldo, Garage 51: “For someone like me, who only entered professional racing this year, having access to Lenovo Race Performance Analysis is a significant advantage. Being able to access the data quickly and easily helps me better understand many technical and performance aspects of each session, accelerating my development and making the work we do throughout a race weekend even more effective.”
Unlike most race-performance tools, Lenovo Race Performance Analysis is publicly available rather than limited to riders and their teams. Fans can use the dashboard to examine lap-time trends and consistency, providing a more detailed view of where riders gain or lose time for the duration of a race weekend.
Lenovo and Garage 51 are exploring the next phase of the dashboard, including the possible addition of motorcycle sensor data and rider performance metrics. If developed, these features could provide a more complete picture of how rider inputs, physical performance and bike behaviour affect lap times.
