VOL. 52 ISSUE 30 JULY 28, 2015 P79
those two chicanes, where its
greater agility meant I could get
harder on the power sooner and
stronger than on its four-cylinder
rivals that I've been riding every
year, even the benchmark world
champion Aprilia V4 that some-
times behaves like a twin when it
must. And in doing so, the Pani-
gale F15 pulled way, way harder
from 5000 rpm upwards than
Chaz's bike did a year ago.
Even though it seems you're
sitting pretty high up on the bike
to presumably make room for
his long legs – though the seat
subframe is anyway 10mm higher
than last year – Chaz's tall stat-
ure results in a spacious riding
stance, which meant I felt pretty
much at home on his Panigale,
whose tall, rounded, protective
screen isn't cut back as much
as last year. Still, I could tuck
myself behind it at top speed
down the Imola front straight or
up the long hill exiting Tosa, and
positioning the bike in turns was
easy. And that's really critical,
because turn speed is still a key
ingredient of the magic formula
that allows the Ducati to keep up
with its four-cylinder rivals, now
that these can be twins when
they want to be exiting a turn,
thanks to the split mapping of
each pair of throttle bodies al-
lowed under WSBK regulations.
That gives them the same grunty
drive out of a corner that was
hitherto Ducati's strong point,
leaving the superior agility of
its V-twin package its only key
remaining USP—well, until this
year, when its explosive ac-
celeration out of a turn is now a
crucial new advantage.
For that you need to be able
to position the bike just right in a
given turn, after holding off the
brakes until the very last mo-
ment, then taking a big handful
of the supreme Brembo front
brake package just a micro-
second after first working the
rear brake to try to counter the
42mm pressurised
Öhlins RSP25 takes
care of front end
duties, and like the
roadbike Panigale
R, misses out on
the electronic
adjustment found
on the 1299.
The
single
Öhlins
RSP40
shock
and
progressive
rate
linkage
is
fully
adjustable
for
damping
and
length;
new
Akrapovic
is
credited
with
helping
everything
from
overall
power
to
increased
stability
entering
corners.
Alan says the
longer wheelbase
over the 2014
machine hasn't
sacrificed agility,
with the 2015
feeling light as
a Supersport
machine in
direction changes.
