Meet Shell's king of quick

Knaak is Shell's lubricant specialist, a genius of smooth and a foe of friction.

The Shell scientists toiled on oil at a laboratory in Hamburg, Germany, and came up with a worthy candidate for use in racing bikes. This oil in turn underwent trials at Ducati, on the Borgo Panigale test bench, which supplies the best-performing oils for testing on the track.

Only when Shell and Ducati engineers are fully satisfied with a candidate is a new blend used in MotoGP competition.

"The main target of the cooperation with the Ducati is to find maximum power output of the engine at minimum fuel consumption," Knaak says.

Fuel-tank sizes have been reduced from 24 to 21 litres in MotoGP races, which currently cover 120 kilometres, he explains, so fuel efficiency is crucial. Running empty on the last lap would be catastrophic.

Knaak is responsible for ensuring the development and delivery of all the Shell products that are designed to give Ducati that extra competitive edge on the track, including race fuels.

He works with Shell's fuel-development expert Jorg Lanschof, who created Shell V-Power fuel for Ducati.

Knaak's passion for motorcycles carried him to a master's degree in mechanical engineering and into the labs in Hamburg and at Shell Global Solutions in Chester, England.

He's since held a variety of technical motorsport roles with the company, focusing his knowledge of racing requirements to help develop Shell Advance motorcycle oils that can ultimately be used on the public roadways.

A milestone in Knaak's career was introducing a mix of highly effective "friction modifiers" into Shell Advance racing lubricants in 2004. The breakthrough allowed the Ducati Desmosedici engine to produce significantly more horsepower simply by changing the oil. There was no compromise in engine reliability.

The changes in MotoGP regulations have spurred technological advances - and competitiveness. The right fuel and lubricant can make all the difference.

"In MotoGP," explains Knaak, "the race lubricant's main function is to reduce friction to increase power. It has to maintain the performance of the engine and gearbox by protecting it against metal wear, and protect all the moving parts, ensuring the bike is reliable and reaches the finish line, ideally in first place."

A new Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme regulation limits riders to five engine changes over the course of the final seven races of the 2009 MotoGP season. This places an even stronger emphasis on engine life and demands flawless protection for the Ducati Desmosedici GP9.

Shell's philosophy - "From Track to Road" - is reflected in its products.

"Basically, we start the development of a product quite differently from others," says Knaak. "We do field trials on a regular basis, even in Thailand, to learn the basic requirements of the products.

"But on top of that, in our top-tier products we include our learning from the track into the product for daily use, because in day-to-day use you have a lot of cold starts, start-stop conditions and heavy traffic.

"And on top of that," he says, "we have very special requirements on a race track - extremely high temperatures, for example, in the combustion chamber in the area of the piston ring.

"When we learn how to better cope with this threat by using a very special base oil with additive technology, we see if we can include that in the product for day-to-day use."

The aim, Knaak says, is to make fuels for racing that are quite similar to those found at any petrol station.

"So all of the fuel we're developing for the Ducati, you can use in your motorcycle and your car!"

Marking the 10th anniversary of Shell and Ducati's technical partnership, Knaak can see how his company has benefited.

"I think we've learned about the efficiency of the engine, which means more power. Both riders and researchers testing the oil in the lab found more power and less fuel consumption."

The biggest reward of all, of course, was seeing the Ducati bikes that he helped fuel win the 2007 MotoGP World Championship.

"It was the first time a non-Japanese company won. Ducati is a small company compared to its competitors. We're very proud that we helped them win the championship."