DUCATI PANIGALE R F15
RACER TEST
P80
forward weight transfer lifting the
back wheel in the air. If I didn't
do that at Imola into a bottom-
gear turn like either of those chi-
canes, or downhill into two-part
Rivazza, the Ducati's rear wheel
would lift, even with my extra
pounds aboard, making stability
an issue which compromised my
turn speed. Preloading the rear
end by using the back brake first
helped turn speed, and the extra
engine braking delivered by the
exhaust valve now installed in
the Akrapovic system definitely
helped finish slowing the bike
down into the apex of any turn.
AIM FOR THE LIGHTS
You must pay attention to the
tacho reading shown on the
Panigale R streetbike dash fitted
to the Superbike racer (but with
the speedo function disabled)
because the soft-action 12,500
rpm limiter is where you're
encouraged to aim for in every
gear, which is 200 revs lower
than last year. This isn't an
old-style Ducati Superbike
where you can short-shift in
the gears and ride the torque
curve. Instead, you must aim for
the moment the green shifter
lights on the dash start flashing
at around 12,000 rpm (it var-
ies according to the gear ratio
and throttle potentiometer) and
then hit a higher gear on the
clean-action race-pattern shift
lever. If you do hit the limiter
(and I did to start with, before
I learned how to cope with the
vastly quicker engine accelera-
tion) the RBW throttle means
the bike just stops accelerating:
it doesn't cut out, it just tells you
there's no point twisting the wrist
any harder. Peak torque still
comes as before at 9,800 rpm,
but there's a little more of it, plus
it's sustained longer.
If the 2014 Ducati was a prom-
ising new generation desmo
V-twin Superbike, complete
with rev-happy ultra short-stroke
motor, this year's F15 version
is a MotoGP bike in drag. It
has unbelievably strong accel-
eration, with a hyper-aggressive
NOTHING
PREPARED
ME FOR THE
EXPLOSIVE
PERFORMANCE
OF THE DAVIES
SUPERBIKE
AFTER I THREW
A LEG ABOARD
IT, THUMBED
THE STARTER
BUTTON TO FIRE
UP THE MOTOR
AND SET OFF
DOWN PIT LANE
WITH IT POPPING
AND BANGING
MERCILESSLY
ON THE SPEED
LIMITER.
Chaz's office: should you find yourself sitting here you
must have done something right with your life!
