2018 EICMA: Ducati Panigale V4 R
Ducati is now ready for some serious competition with the one-litre version of the new V-fourDucati’s fired a stunning salvo ahead of the 2018 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, finally releasing the Panigale V4 R – the machine which the company is banking on breaking Kawasaki’s stranglehold on the world superbike title.
For all intents and purposes, the Panigale V4 R is a street-legal world superbike machine with withering performance now making it the most powerful Ducati factory motorcycle ever.
Here’s how Ducati has done it. The Desmosedici Stradale 1103cc engine has been replaced with the 998cc Desmosedici Stradale R to comply with displacement limits set by WorldSBK rules.
Unlike the larger V4 – designed to provide fluid power delivery and excellent low-rev pulling power for optimal road use – the 998cc design offers more extreme track-focussed top-end performance. It has lighter internal components (the Panigale R is 2kg lighter than the Panigale V4 S) and greater air intake efficiency.
The result is 221hp (162kW) at 15,250rpm, 2250rpm higher than when peak power is produced on the 1103cc V4. These figures can be taken even higher by fitting the full-racing Ducati Performance exhaust by Akrapovic, which boosts maximum power to 234hp (172kW) at 15,500 rpm.
The fairing also incorporates the carbon fibre wings developed for the MotoGP prototypes.
In 2019, Chaz Davies and Alvaro Bautista will be campaigning the Panigale V4 R in WorldSBK, while veteran Troy Bayliss will be keen to use it in local superbike competition.
No details yet on local availability or price.
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