24 PERFORMANCEBIKES.CO.UK|MARCH 2018
SKIDS FOR SPEED
Setting two on the ABS retains
control at the rear, but still allows
intentional backing-in for sharper
corner entry. Blimey.BACKWARDS, FORWARDS
The inertia of the counter-rotating
crankcancelsoutthatofthe
wheels for agility, wheelie control,
grip and braking stability.RACE STYLE TANK
Without the top cylinder of a twin
in the way, the underseat area is
free to house most of the fuel tank
for better weight distribution.ICAN’TBELIEVE
what i’m hearing. The
very first non-Ducati
employees ever to ride
aPanigaleV4arethe
Italian, American and English
journalists. After the first session at
RicardoTormo,I’mtryingtobring
some mental order to a jumble of awe,
observationsandadrenaline.Andwhat
arethreeotherallegedprofessionals
discussing?Thequalityofsomeweld
they think isn’t up to scratch.
I’dhavesentthebastardshomeon
thenextflight.Thebikeisstunning:I
amconfidentinthisjudgementdespite
not knowing the circuit and being a bit
cack-handed this early on, so I’m trying
togetinarhythmatthehomeofthe
Valencia MotoGP round. But unusually,
myzeroknowledgeofabusy,technical
circuitiswhatbringsthePanigaleV4’s
defining advances and characteristics
to the fore.
Step back to 2015: the V-twin Pani
switches from the peaky, angry 1199
engine,andformodelsnotrequiredfor
homologation it now runs a 1301cc
engine making similar peak power but
back-fillingthegapsinmidrangeand
bringingamoremanageabledelivery.
Butit’sallrelative:the1199behaved
likeatwo-stroke,butwithhugetorque
and power. Exciting, but hard to use
and sensitive to settings and conditions.
The 1299 was better, but still had good
and bad days.
Andit’sthat–notthebhpbattleor
WSB–thatledDucatitodeclaringthey
hadfoundthelimitsofbuildingatwin
that’s both dynamic and accessible.
Onlyaspecialfewonagooddaycould
useitontrack,andontheroaditcould
clash with modern traffic reality.
Back to early 2018, and I’ve
completely missed the blind-entry,
fourth-back-to-second turn eight –
twice–andusedapieceoftrackforan
alternativelayouttorejoinatthe13th
corner,allsheepishlike.It’shardwork,
second/third-gear corners linking and
transitioningintoeachotherformostof018DUCATIPANIGALEV4SCHRIS NEWBIGGING