Lagaaij, Borkert and Ferraresi: Three Designers and Their Ducatis

Mitja Borkert raises an eyebrow, as if he had understood the question but not why we would ask something like that. He thinks about it for a moment, then grins and explains the protocol: “Obviously, you should curtsy, with your nose touching the ground, then count to four, slowly rise, and kiss the signet ring on his right hand. But under no circumstances should you touch the ring!” For clarification: We had asked how we should address Harm Lagaaij, Mitja Borkert’s friend, mentor, former director of Style Porsche and, since 2013, an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, the Dutch equivalent to an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. That honor, awarded by the monarch of the United Kingdom, grants recipients the right to use the title “Sir” before their name and to be addressed as such. But we didn’t know how they do things in the Netherlands. Mitja Borkert had a good laugh with us. Then Harm Lagaaij arrives and solves the mystery of how to address him in the most relaxed manner: “Hi, I’m Harm,” he says, greeting us with his soft Dutch accent. Right off the bat, we’re on a first-name basis. Hey, it’s a biker story.

Harm Lagaaij and Mitja Borkert go way back. Around twenty-five years ago, Lagaaij, then head of design at Style Porsche, discovered a promising young student by the name of Mitja Borkert at Pforzheim University. He brought him to Porsche. Borkert did an internship with Lagaaij, wrote his final thesis paper at Porsche, and was offered a full-time position. His first real salary. “A few weeks later, he showed up riding an MV Agusta F4.” Even today, you can tell just how crazy Lagaaij thought that was. “Sure, it was the most beautiful sports bike at the time,” he recalls, adding, “It was also one of the fastest. I just thought: He won’t survive that.” Lagaaij had seen plenty of young talents before who had spent their first paycheck on a sports car. And more than once, at least the car didn’t survive. With a motorcycle, the odds were even worse. Lagaaij himself had sold his Ducati 916 – which, like the MV Agusta F4, was designed by Massimo Tamburini – just six months after he got it. “On the firm advice of my guardian angel.” But young Borkert had no intention of giving up his Agusta. He rode it for ages. Until he switched to Ducati.

And that love isn’t any less intense just because it’s raining outside. The date for the outing was set a long time ago. Harm Lagaaij has traveled from near Munich with his Ducati Hypermotard 698 piggybacked on his Porsche Cayenne. “I designed and built the carrier myself. As far as I know, I’ve got the only Cayenne in the world that can carry a motorcycle like that.” Andrea Ferraresi rides a Ducati Diavel. And Mitja Borkert? “The new Ducati Panigale V4.” Borkert looks at Lagaaij: “It’s significantly faster and even more beautiful than the MV from back then.”

The road conditions aren’t good at all. Wet and slippery, a nightmare for motorcyclists. But the machines are manned by experienced riders. Each of them covers thousands of kilo­meters a year. This is the first time they’ve ridden together, otherwise they tend to ride alone, which is in part because of their job. Lagaaij explains: “When you’re in a group, someone always wants to stop to eat, another one wants something to drink, the third guy has to take a bathroom break. Everyone has different speeds and levels of experience. When I’m by myself, I’m independent.” Mitja Borkert chose the route. From Modena, the three ride up to Madonna di Puianello. Coffee break. Delicate aroma, perfectly tuned espresso machine, high-quality water. In Italy, Borkert has learned the importance of good coffee. Andrea Ferraresi has never known it any other way.

he three talk about Mitja Borkert’s youth. He grew up in East Germany, in a town called Herzberg around a hundred kilometers south of Berlin. “I was good at school, but for political reasons the Stasi, or actually my secondary school, wouldn’t let me go to university – unless I joined the army, which was totally out of the question for me. If it hadn’t been for German reunification, I’d probably be a bricklayer today. There was no alternative. For me, the fall of the Wall changed everything. I was able to go to Pforzheim to study ­Transportation Design and had the opportunity to do what I’d always wanted.” It is a brief, thought-provoking moment. Harm Lagaaij pauses for a minute, then says to us: “Mitja’s talent is one thing. The fact that he stays curious, obviously has a sense of humor and is ambitious, that’s another. But what I haven’t seen often in this form is the energy he displays. I’ve done a lot of projects on the side myself, alongside my very demanding job, and today I wonder where I got the energy for it all. But Mitja is taking that to a whole new level.”

Borkert has to leave us for a moment to go to the Lamborghini headquarters. “An important appointment, there was no other way.” We are left alone with Harm Lagaaij and Andrea Ferraresi for an hour or two. The topic: Ducati. What else? “I’m an engineer by training,” says Ferraresi. He came to design through Walter de Silva. The Italian car designer mentored him and convinced him to develop the new design line for Ducati. Lagaaij likes it. He’s convinced that Ducati has ( … )

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→ Read the full story in ramp #66 “Drive My Car”.