This test was only about lap times around a bumpy circuit all ridden by Neil Hodgson, so it was only his comments.
Yes the Panigale was the fastest, but he said that when they put it on the higher spec race tyres it transformed the bike. The only thing that was "tweaked" was that it had the swingarm pivot set at the -4mm setting to give it better drive. He also said you had to make the engine " sing" and it was as close to a WSBK race bike as you could get. It had the standard exhaust and mapping, so no full Termi's that come with it.
As for the HP4 he said it was the smoothest of the bikes and relatively easy to ride fast probably due to the adaptive electronic suspension which is not even allowed in WSBK. so these two bikes are the standouts, which if you watch World SuperStock it is pretty obvious. The BMW had the Akropovic pipe fitted.
As for the Aprillia he says it has a lack of outright power and torque compared to the Ducati and BMW but that actually makes it easier for the average rider. Downsides are it is small and needs a precise smooth approach, and the bike sounded the best, in standard trim.
As for the MV he hated it, thought it was horrible around this bumpy track, and the fuelling was poor, so it was off the pace.
The Ducati was by far the lightest of all the bikes and weighed 193 kg fully fuelled, he said it would not take much for it to reach a WSBK dry limit of 165kg.
So in summary the Ducati R is about as close to a WSBK race replica as you could get right now but it is a handful, in fact he calls it a sensory overload of epic proportions.
The BMW, Is stunningly smooth and fast while Aprilia is a smooth and non intimidating and both have cutting edge electronics. While the MV is a stunning road bike but needs work to be a race bike.
Cheers
