Fresh from the Ducati 1199 Panigale international press launch at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, our friends from OmniMoto.it have been kind enough to share their experience on Ducati’s newest flagship model, since Asphalt & Rubber wasn’t one of the American publications invited to test Borgo Panigale’s latest creation. Our Italian brother in arms, OmniMoto‘s Lorenzo Gargiulo shares his initiation to the 1199, while riding around one the world’s most expensive race circuits…the lucky bastard. With much thanks to him, enjoy Lorenzo’s review and continue to countdown the months until A&R will get its own chance to flog the Ducati 1199 Panigale in a similar manner.
The International press launch of the Ducati 1199 Panigale is underway in Abu Dhabi this week, with initial reports on Ducati’s flagship superbike being very positive. A track usually reserved for cars, not bikes, the Yas Marina Circuit is really something to behold. Situated on a man-made island off the Abu Dhabi coast, the Middle-Eastern track cost a cool $1.32 billion to construct back in 2009, and holds the distinction for being one of Formula One’s night races. While we wait for the Panigale to come across the Atlantic Ocean, Ducati has put together this video of Troy Bayliss taking a lap around the 21 turns of the Yas Marina Circuit. It’s an oddly edited video, but should bring grins to the Ducatisti in your life.
With nothing coming to fruition on the Mercedes deal, Ducati again made waves in August when it was reported that the company was interested in making a private stock offering in 2012. Today’s news of course is the logical extension of that announcement, as it is both 2012 and Investindustrial is rumored to be in talks with several possible private buyers for Ducati. While none of this news should surprise anyone, what is of note is the price tag being attached to Ducati is €1 billion.
It seems a bit silly to be talking about the 2014 model year when we are only into our second month of 2012. However, such is the case today because a certain Max Biaggi let it slip during the Aprilia Racing Team’s World Superbike presentation that 2012 would be the penultimate season for the Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC. Adding that Aprilia would not be developing its race bike for the 2013 season, the signs would seemingly indicate that a new liter bike model from the Italian manufacturer is on the horizon for 2014.
The Bottpower BOTT XR-1: A racier and more custom version of the Harley-Davidson XR1200X (The BOTT XR-1 is actually based off a Buell motor), Bottpower has done such a good job making the Buell look Alana Blanchard hot that the Voltron generation will forget all about the reasons their didn’t like the Bar & Shield brand in the first place, and instantly liquidate their pre-IPO Facebook stock in order to make room for Bottpower’s work in their marina-view apartments. Needless to say, I like what’s going on here.
Aprilia was in Milan today, unveiling its 2012 World Superbike team with Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. For this season, Aprilia Racing is outfitting its RSV4 race bikes with the company’s classic black & red livery, a break from the white Alitalia paint scheme from last year. Unable to defend his #1 plate, the 40-year-old Max Biaggi will return to racing with his “3″ on the front of his RSV4. Eager to regain World Superbike’s top position, Biaggi’s toughest competition could come from his own teammate. His second season in World Superbike, Laverty has shown a great deal of promise already on the Aprilia. Keep your eye on the Irishman for some podiums in 2012.
The oldest racing organization in the country dedicated soley to motorcycle road racing, the AFM is a Northern Californian non-profit racing organization that has helped hone the skills of riders like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, and Steve Rapp — not mention a weekend warrior or two. Each year the racing league comes together for a banquet, and lately the tradition has been to include a highlight film of the year’s racing. I’m not sure what films in the past have been like, but if the latest AFM banquet video doesn’t give you goosebumps, you might want to check your pulse. Bonus points for the including the Versus “Second Place” monologue — it’s very apropos.
Grab some popcorn, because this video from Ducati North America is over 14 minutes long. Telling the story of Ducati at the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), DNA has put together a great video that really captures how special the racing is at Pikes Peak, and how gorgeous the scenery is of the Colorado Mountains. With Santa Barbara Ducati’s Carlin Dunne winning the overall motorcycle category on his dealership’s Multistrada 1200 demo model, Alexander Smith from the Spider Grips Ducati Team made it a double podium for Ducati in the 1205cc class. If you’re new to racing at Pikes Peak, or wanted a quick re-cap of last year’s race, Ducati’s video pretty accurately sums up racing on the mountain and the anxiety around last year’s race.
Ducati has announced its factory team for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), and the Italian company has secured the services of last-year’s winner and Rookie of the Year Carlin Dunne as well as six-time PPIHC winner Greg Tracy. Ducati has also partnered with the Spider Grips team, who will help prepare the teams Ducati Multistrada 1200 for the “Race to the Clouds” on July 8th. For 2012, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be fully-paved to the top of the mountain, which will surely see the speeds of competitors increase, and lap times drop on the 12.42 mile long course that ends at 14,110 feet.
I was flipping through some photos from the 2011 EICMA show, and found these shots of the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Superquadro engine. Unfortunately at the show, Ducati had its 1199cc v-twin motor behind a Lexan case, which created a bit of a glare, reflections, and of course had smudges from the touchy-feely Italian crowd. But still, the photos give a good idea of what’s going on in Ducati’s most-advanced production engine to date, and are better than just looking at the CAD renders. If you look at the shots very closely, you can almost see where the 195hp and 98 lbs•ft of torque is lurking inside.
Anybody that thinks about ‘motorcycle shipments’ in a time like this should get their heads checked.
Seriously.
Oh no! I’m gonna get my CBR late?! This is bullshit!
*meanwhile hundreds to thousands are homeless, several have been killed*
I could give a Sh!t about the honda factory, when one nuclear reactor is not cooling down and they may need to release some radioactive steam. Japan, is well prepared and lots of the big factories shutdown automatically, but this is a huge disaster that if it where anywhere else it would certainly be 100x the damage and loss of life.
My GF tried for hours to get a phone call in, and when she got through they exchanged some words and knew everything was fine, her father rushed her off the phone, so not to clog the phone lines for emergency calls. these people are well prepared.
This is a motorcycle news site. What do you guys expect?
True, motorcycle shipments aren’t important compared to the lives and livelihoods that have been destroyed by this disaster, but this website isn’t a place to report on such aspects of life. This is a site about MOTORCYCLE related news. The earthquake effecting Honda is news worthy for such a site. I don’t see anything in this article that was out of line or suggesting that the REAL tragedy of this event was the delay of motorcycle shipments. If anyone is out of line, its you guys.
Another motorcycle website reported that the Motegi round of MotoGP might be delayed due to this event… does that mean they only care about MotoGP?
Again, the events in Japan are tragic but still, if you want the human side of the story, there are a plenty of places for such news. You came to a motorcycle news site and complain about motorcycle related impact of this earthquake. Kinda silly if you ask me.
With that said, my heart and prayers are with those in Japan. Especially those who perished and those who are dealing with the loss of loved ones.
@ML: I do apologise for the lack of nuance in my comment, I very much appreciate A&R as a source of motorcycle related news and I can see how it may have come across as a an unintentional direct stab at them.
Merely the thought however of anybody complaining about not getting their new CBR in time because of this immensely tragic disaster, is making me sick.
@thingymadoodle – correct.
in a situation like this, everything is about the disaster. when 911 happened, every channel talked about the tragic moment – not “the towers are down the stock market wont open”.
dont get me wrong, i like this site. much better than hellforaa$holes.
this is more inline.
http://motomatters.com/news/2011/03/12/earthquake_threatens_japanese_motogp_rou.html
At the end of the day A&R is what it is, a motorcycle news site. I don’t expect readers to come to this site looking for a CNN level of treatment on Japan’s earthquake disaster. We honestly couldn’t do it justice. I too would be upset over the 18 y/o punk kid who complains that his crotch rocket won’t be available because of the recent events. There’s not much you can do about those kind of people except hope that they grow up a bit more in life.
This sentence was my sort of way of saying that this story is a relatively low priority in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still the pertinent information as it applies to motorcycles:
“While Japan has more serious issues to contend with at the moment, the immediate ramifications for the motorcycle industry appear to be the now expected delays in shipping motorcycles from Japan to other countries.”
David did a great job on his piece (even mentions A&R which is always nice of him). He also didn’t have to travel 19hrs today to Doha. I’m actually in Dubai right now, and will be meeting David in Doha in another hour or two, as we’re sharing a room for the GP.