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In the company of Angel Sanchez, new CEO of Dainese, the historic company that has always been at the side of motorcyclists on and off the tracks, in Portimao, on the occasion of the second Grand Prix of the season, we talked about safety, technology and projects between the present and the future.
Angel is a practicing sportsman, motorcyclist and triathlete. He has a broad and correct view of the world of sports and, apparently, a lot of passion to take the leadership of a company that, born from an intuition of Lino Dainese, has become synonymous with safety, not only among two wheels.
How did you arrive in Dainese?
"I came to Dainese in November, just four months ago ," Sanchez explains, "it was a blessing, because I have been passionate about Dainese for so many years. I got a call proposing me to be the CEO of Dainese, and initially I thought about turning it down because I thought I couldn't do it, but then I told myself it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. From there the deal came easily."
Dainese is the history of motorcycling protection, what direction do you want to give to the company that invented the sliders, the airbag, the back protector.
"When something works it's good to continue in that direction. So we continue to innovate by redoubling our efforts, we focus on continuous research to improve in every single aspect, but also as Lino Dainese did, take further steps forward by creating something that doesn't exist yet."
Lino Dainese has long since left Dainese, but he is still in contact with you.
"Lino is and always will be part of Dainese. We are trying to work together with him and his team, he is Dainese and he is a genius, all these years he has continued his work and still has a lot of ideas. Together with our R&D team new ideas will come forward, although I cannot reveal specific details yet."
What are the short-term plans in the next two years?
"At the moment in terms of research and development we are working on two aspects: improving safety even more, especially in areas where something can still be done to improve the riders' experience, and then a project aimed more at improving performance."
Thanks to Dainese now the airbag has become mandatory in the world of top-level racing. Do you think this will also increasingly translate into products designed for the regular road rider, which already exist but will perhaps be improved?
"Dainese is a life-saving company, we work to save the motorcyclist on the road as well. Talking with Agostini he reminded me how in the past riders risked their lives every year. Fortunately now this happens more rarely in racing, and the goal is to make it happen less on the road as well."
What can be worked on in terms of products to improve the regular customer experience even more on the track?
"One of the merits should definitely be given to our team, which works tirelessly alongside the riders. In the last years of Valentino's career for example, he himself was the one who directed us to the problem of suit weight. After a full day on the bike it can be tiring, and that's where a project came from, from which we recently presented two new suits that weigh 15 to 20 percent less, the lightest on the market; it took years of design."
Dainese has also acquired another historical brand, AGV. So the philosophy is to create a whole in terms of safety from head to toe.
"This has two important advantages, first of all the safety of the rider because you already have all the test data, and then it has an advantage also in terms of performance, developing together the various elements to improve performance."
For years Dainese has boasted historic testimonials, from Agostini, to Kenny Roberts, to Barry Sheene, to, of course, Valentino Rossi. Some very strong young riders are coming up, is there a desire for Dainese to be even more present among those involved in racing?
"This aspect of working with riders is also very important, although we prefer quality over quantity, especially in terms of the service we offer riders. We would like to target the champions of course, although today it has become more difficult to identify them when they are young as their performances are very close together, but the strategy remains to bring them to work with us."
What new things can we expect in the near future?
"At the end of the year the first new developments will come, but it is from next year that Dainese will aim to return to being a couple of spans above the other competitors."
