not as wide as Bulega's bike. The
seat is surprisingly broad and
extremely grippy. The shape of
the fuel tank semi-locks you into
position to keep you secure when
the brakes are trying to throw you
into next week.
This time I'm following Ducati
Corse test rider and regular wild
card in MotoGP, Michele Pirro.
He's on a V4 R, but even on a
road-based bike he's capable of
lapping just a few seconds off a
competitive WorldSBK time.
There's no time to learn the
bike at my own pace. Pirro is
setting a strong rhythm from the
start to ensure I keep my tires up
to temperature and the engine
within its operating range. Too
slow is as bad as too fast.
The first real opportunity to
unleash at least some of those
close to 300 horses comes on the
exit of turn six onto the long back
straight. I rev the Desmosedici
hard, but it doesn't squat or react
in any way. Instead, it acceler
-
ates in one continuous surge, its
seamless gearbox compounding
the sense of infinite and uninter-
rupted drive.
Once again, though, I haven't
seen the shift lights. They should
illuminate at around 18,000 rpm,
and although the engine sounds
as violent as it does busy, I'm prob
-
ably only reaching 15,000 rpm.
Coming into the turn-10 hairpin
before the fastest part of the cir
-
cuit, I decide I have to illuminate
those bloody lights. I can't return
to the pits without even using all
the revs. So, it's second gear out
of the corner, then I stand the
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P121
