"A few years away......"

Despite this, winning is important. This is demonstrated also the resources that you yourself have designed the project SBK. In the light of the results, that road will you take in the near future? Continue with the Panigale, already extremely fast motion in the standard version but a crisis of results compared to its big sisters, or invest in a new project?

"We will continue with the Panigale at least for a couple of years. We worked hard on this project and will continue to do, believe that there is room for improvement. With Dall'Igna and the rest of the team have already identified a number of variables on which to intervene. "

Regulation, however, leaves little freedom of action. In recent months there has been talk of a Ducati four-cylinder in the yard ...

"We do not see changes on the horizon from that point of view, but we think that even the bi-cylinder is a critical point. It also shows the production start of 1299. And then we have an advantage over most of the competition, since both the direct transfer of technologies between MotoGP and SBK, packed in the same race department , that the fact that the odds of approval are more manageable by virtue of our numbers on the market. "


SBK, Ducati in SBK con la Panigale fino al 2017

And so they should continue with the Panigale, it's a great bike and a great platform.
They dominated on the weekend and got the bike some well deserved recognition.

I'd say it depends on the development of the Panigale in terms of getting race results over the next year or two. The limitation of engine modifications to basically just camshafts hurts everyone equally, but it may level the playing field such that the twin remains competitive.

There are plenty of Panigale enthusiasts; I don't think Ducati had any trouble selling them. Ironic, since the Preziosi frameless design proved to be completely uncompetitive in MotoGP. I still love the creativeness behind the design and the out of the box thinking that reminds me of the Britten V1000.

And we're still buying the bike, despite the fact that it never won a race, let alone a championship, until this year. The competitiveness and championships won on the 996, 999, and 1098 are numerous and well-documented.

But Ducati seems to imply that since MotoGP and SBK work out of the same workspace and Dall'Igna runs the whole show, making a Desmosedici a regular production model and the Panigale replacement would be well within Ducati's abilities. In other words, Ducati may be in the business of selling L-twins, but they have a lot of knowledge on how to build a 999cc V-4 and can do so easily.

If they do, I'm sure it'll be a match for the rest of the superbike market. But it sure won't make anything close to 107lb/ft torque. And I know they've gone to using perimeter frames on the MotoGP bikes, but I really hope they don't do that for the consumer.

Ducati has historically been enormously successful in SBK racing due to their unique approach to building a motorcycle. That has changed, but here's to hoping that they find engineering solutions to being the fastest around a track, without resorting to the UJM formula.

They could also continue to mess will the rulebook like they did in the Foggy Era.

JHTmcrider said:

They could also continue to mess will the rulebook like they did in the Foggy Era.

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the way I've understood it the evo rules were not completely implemented and the idea behind the evo rules was to tame the horsepower.
As I understood it (feel free to correct me ) some of the manufactures did not like the evo rules and a compromise was made.
So I would imagine the powers that be are trying to keep the teams equal and the "fire breathing motors" tamed down. trying to make everyone happy is impossible . IMO

I don't think it's too far fetched to dream about a 999 Panigale R with a V4 in a L configuration. Or another superleggera halo type product to start the development and then then it trickle down into the regular superbikes.

sexparty said:

I don't think it's too far fetched to dream about a 999 Panigale R with a V4 in a L configuration. Or another superleggera halo type product to start the development and then then it trickle down into the regular superbikes.

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Why create something all brand new. Use the motogp bike as the platform without all the exotic materials. Bang, your next panigale.

sexparty said:

I don't think it's too far fetched to dream about a 999 Panigale R with a V4 in a L configuration. Or another superleggera halo type product to start the development and then then it trickle down into the regular superbikes.

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Bring back the 999

of course, with the L-4 motor, they won't call it a Panigale, they'll call it a Desmosedici.

there's plenty that could transfer over from the GP15, but that would also mean the gay-ass Japanese-style perimeter frame. And then it's just be too much like an Aprilia for comfort.

I would sell a testicle for a Brow designed, GP derived lame ass perimiter framed Ducati.

Macattack said:

the way I've understood it the evo rules were not completely implemented and the idea behind the evo rules was to tame the horsepower.
As I understood it (feel free to correct me ) some of the manufactures did not like the evo rules and a compromise was made.
So I would imagine the powers that be are trying to keep the teams equal and the "fire breathing motors" tamed down. trying to make everyone happy is impossible . IMO

Click to expand...

even more important than the horsepower was "taming" the electronics. The reasoning behind that is that there's only so much you can spend on custom cams, but electronics - that's a bottomless pit. BMW pulled out of WSBK, citing electronics development costs. They spent literal millions on software during 2012 and Melandri's almost-championship, "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory". I remember when Chaz Davies won the double at Aragon in 2013, BMW had programmed in a cylinder to cut out in certain corners (that sounded awesome btw).

so there's the new system of everyone having to share software every couple of months or something. While Rea and the Kawasaki has proven to be a magical combination, both Davies and Giugliano are able to run at the front (along with Sykes and Haslam). So of the five fastest bikes in WSBK, two are Ducatis. Definitely a turnaround for this season.

shakazulu12 said:

I would sell a testicle for a Brow designed, GP derived lame ass perimiter framed Ducati.

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I swear, that unibrow is somehow magical, isn't it? Like, it gives him special powers

I kinda hope they incorporate a unibrow element into the design of their next superbike.

Ljuice26 said:

Why create something all brand new. Use the motogp bike as the platform without all the exotic materials. Bang, your next panigale.

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Right, then WSBK can do away with the Evo rules because there would no longer a be a need to restrict 4 cylinders so a twin can stay competitive. IMO fans want to see close racing, but we also want to see very tricked out superbikes. I think the Evo rules to make superbike closer to superstock is as stupid as it would be to make GP bikes closer to Moto2 bikes.

Eleven 99 said:

Right, then WSBK can do away with the Evo rules because there would no longer a be a need to restrict 4 cylinders so a twin can stay competitive. IMO fans want to see close racing, but we also want to see very tricked out superbikes. I think the Evo rules to make superbike closer to superstock is as stupid as it would be to make GP bikes closer to Moto2 bikes.

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They changed the rules because of money, period. They capped how much you can spend on electronics, suspension..... so that more manufactures would join in. that's why Yamaha is coming back and I bet BMW will be back with a factory supported team as well. It's all about the money. They don't give a .... about close racing.... That's also why they want Nicky Haden in WSBK, so get more American to watch on TV or online.

Ljuice26 said:

They changed the rules because of money, period. They capped how much you can spend on electronics, suspension..... so that more manufactures would join in. that's why Yamaha is coming back and I bet BMW will be back with a factory supported team as well. It's all about the money. They don't give a .... about close racing.... That's also why they want Nicky Haden in WSBK, so get more American to watch on TV or online.

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If they implemented the evo rules to reduce costs and keep manufacturers, it had the opposite effect! Didn't BMW leave because they invested millions into their bike only for rules to change and they were no longer able to use their electronics? So we lost a top manufacturer just because of the rules put in place to keep manufacturers?! The manufacturers that we did lose (Bimota and EBR) would of had to pull out regardless if the rules changed or not. Yamaha can afford to race full spec superbike(s), so I don't think they're a reason the new rules are in effect. I'm sure Yamaha would actually prefer to race the R1 in full superbike form instead of having to cope with the current restrictions.

Seems to me the last manufacturer WSBK wants to lose is Ducati. Last year the Pani couldn't really hang with the full spec Kawi and Ape, but everyone knows the Pani is very strong in superstock form. Seems logical to me that the decision to implement new rules that bring the bikes closer to superstock machines was to help get the Pani to the front and make sure Ducati sticks around. It was the main talking about during the off-season that the Evo rules effected the Panigale the least whereas Kawasaki and Aprilia had to make big changes. As for reducing costs, I'm curious what the bill was for R&D involved with Ducati's new exhaust and how much Kawasaki and Aprilia spent to keep their bikes competitive under the new rules... I"m sure it wasn't cheap.

shakazulu12 said:

I would sell a testicle for a Brow designed, GP derived lame ass perimiter framed Ducati.

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The true test of commitment would be whether it would be one of yours or not...

Steve B said:

The true test of commitment would be whether it would be one of yours or not...

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If it looks like a GP15.....Nope, won't need sex anymore. Bike will do.

I hope that they stay with the frameless concept and drop in a V4. I don't think the frameless concept was the real problem there; it was the engine size itself - but perhaps that came about as a consequence of the frameless design. In any case if they stay with a twin I likely won't bother to upgrade from my 1199, but if it's a V4, well, I've wanted a V4 sportbike from a reliable factory for a long time.

What I don't want to see is the new bike picking up 25lbs +. I love the bike because its so lite. Keep it aesthetically beautiful, lightweight, V4, conventional swingarm, 205HP +, 100ftlbs. of torque +, and you will have sales.....