TEAM #RIDEHVMC DUCATI PANIGALE R
RACER TEST
P112
ing was adding fuel to that little
throttle input. There would be
fuel sitting on top of the throttle
body. You're only supposed to
have three percent throttle (on
the EBC map) and it's giving
you 3.9 percent throttle. That
0.9 percent is the reason why I
couldn't slow down and turn in.
"It's not like you're running off
the back straightaway with the
throttle full-on; it's when you're
trail braking and you're like, 'the
bike's not turning—why?' Then
you start going after chassis
stuff and you realize, shit, it's not
the chassis, it's the fact that the
fuel mapping is off."
This translated to more issues
when the throttle was opened for
corner exit. Corey again: "From
there the bike would go lean,
because it burned off all that fuel
that was sitting there—it would
just go dead. Then it goes super
rich and you have this big power
hit at the apex rolling on the
throttle. So you're riding a bike
that amongst all that is spinning
and backing in and doing all the
stuff that a normal bike does and
you're trying to ride around that."
For my ride however (and,
it must be said, at a rather
slower speed than Corey's), the
Panigale R's throttle response
seems sorted. The initial touch
of the gas from closed is nicely
metered—still with a hint of ag-
gression but nothing like what
Corey explained to me earlier.
This allows for a much smoother
corner exit without the chassis
tying itself in knots and, impor-
tantly, not over-stressing the rear
Dunlop that's part of the control
tire package for MotoAmerica.
Much of this has to do with
the deft touch of the Ducati
Corse traction control map out
of the standard ECU. It's a soft
Alexander had to put
up with electrical
issues all season,
which hampered
development.