Numbers are tough, and depending on where you leave a digit off, they can mean very different things. Such is the case with the price we reported on the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13.

Available only to professional race teams for €134,900, and not €34,900 (Seriously, you people need to stop calling Ducati Corse thinking you can buy one — that’s just cray), the RS13 is the building block bike that you’ll see racing in superbike classes around the world, but most notably in WSBK with Carlos Checa onboard.

So again the take-home message here is you can’t buy the RS13, you probably can’t afford it, and don’t trust everything you read on the internet. Mea culpa.

Ducati is back in the World Superbike Championship, and today the Ducati Alstare team debuted its Ducati 1199 Panigale R race bike that Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini will campaign with this season. Heavily supported by Ducati Corse, it comes as no surprise then that the team’s livery is in the customary Rosso Corsa, and comes with some very familiar names on its side.

Energy Trading International (ENERGY T.I.) is a name you will see on Andrea Iannone’s Pramac Ducati, while communications company TIM has been a feature on the factory MotoGP bike for a number of seasons. Battery maker FIAMM has also been in the MotoGP paddock with Ducati, while energy drink FICC is the only new-comer to the world of two-wheeled motorsport on the team.

Despite all the cross-pollination, Ducati Alstare is true to form with a stunning machine for 2013. Enjoy some hi-res photos after the jump.

Correction: The article originally stated that the price for the RS13 was €34,900, when it is in fact €134,900. And for the love of god, don’t call Ducati Corse trying to buy one. They won’t sell a Rs13 to you.

Unless your name rhymes with Tarlos Techa, the chances of you owning a Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 are non-existent. The professional racer-only version of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R, the Panigale RS13 is stripped of all the lights, mirrors, reflectors, and other assorted running gear that you would need to pass an inspection from the DOT, and becomes a motorcycle solely dedicated to the art of going fast.

Before any comparisons are made, it is important to note that the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 is not exactly what ends up on the starting grid on any given Sunday, but instead is the starting point for each racing team’s development program, which sees the end result often being a 200+ hp monster on two wheels.

Getting one isn’t cheap though, as the price tag is pegged at a cool €134,900 ($180,500). A hefty price increase over the street-going Panigale R, though with all the added suspension, brakes, wheels, etc that come with the RS13 race bike, the price seems somewhat reasonable — if you can say such a thing about a nearly $180,500 motorcycle.

If you like your sport bikes racer-only, your v-twin cylinders over-square, and your livery in carbon and black, then we have got the bike for you: the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13. Borgo Panigale’s 1199cc race bike is finally headed for World Superbike duty this coming season, and factory riders Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini have been busy this off-season testing Ducati’s latest superbike in preparation of the season’s opener at Phillip Island in February.

Shaking things down at Mugello, Ducati Corse has put together a quick little teaser of the RS13 with Checa and Bayliss on-board. With development of the machine said to be “laborious” (to put it mildly), it will be interesting to see how competitive out of the gate the new Ducati superbike will be against the rest of the WSBK field. One thing is known though, the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 is wicked light, especially now that WSBK has dropped the weight penalty for v-twins.

All the conjecture about Ducati’s factory World Superbike team can now come to a halt, as the Italian brand has announced that Francis Batta’s Belgian organisation, Team Alstare will take over the reigns of the company’s new WSBK effort.

At the helm of the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 will be former WSBK Champion Carlos Checa, who will be joined by Ayrton Badovini. Handling Ducati’s World Superbike campaign for the next two years, Alstare takes over from Althea Racing — a move that made headlines just a week ago.

After the shocking news this weekend that Ducati and Althea Racing would go their separate ways, the Bologna Brand has issued its own press statement about the break-up. Confirming that it has contracted former World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa to its payroll for next season, Ducati Corse also reaffirmed its commitment to race the Ducati 1199 Panigale in the series.

Ducati Corse has yet to release its official plans to race in the series, but the writing on the wall hints towards a factory team for 2013. Citing its strong ties and good relationship with the Althea Racing team, Ducati’s press release mentions the possibility of a “cooperation between Ducati and Team Althea” that could still be “found in the future,” which suggests that Althea could come on as a satellite team for 2013, or again takeover as the factory-backed effort at a later point in time.

While Ducati’s WSBK racing effort is still very much in the air, names like Liberty Racing and Davide Tardozzi are being banded about, and it is certain that Ducati Corse is exploring every option available. What is perhaps most intriguing in the news is Ducati Corse’s reconfirmation of its plan to race the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 next season.

In a surprise move, Althea Racing and Ducati Corse have parted ways in their World Superbike collaboration. The news sees Carlos Checa remaining with Ducati Corse and on the Ducati 1199 Panigale, though the Spaniard has no team behind him. Meanwhile, Althea Racing will retain #2 man Davide Giugliano, but will have to begin a search for a new manufacturer.

The issue under contention is the level of support Ducati Corse was willing to give the team, as Team Principal Genesio Bevilacqua has said to several Italian publications that Ducati was willing to give about as much support in 2013 as it did in 2012, which wasn’t a lot.

Left to develop the Ducati 1199 Panigale on its own, a large feat given the rumors that the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 is not up to par for racing duty, Althea Racing is said to have balked at the idea of having to do all the heavy-lifting while Ducati reaps all the reward, and rightfully so.

We have already shown you photos of the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS12, the 2012-spec version of the race bike that is only available to motorcycle race teams. For 2013, not too much about the race package has changed (note the Ducati Test Team livery that the 2013 Ducati Superbike 848 EVO Corse SE wears as well), but honestly…we will use any excuse possible to post up pictures of this tasty machine.

Not to be confused with the Ducati 1199 Panigale R, which will debut at EICMA and be available to mere mortals, the Ducati 1199 Panigale RS13 is not a street bike, and unless your name is Carlos Checa, you’re unlikely to get your hands on one. Continue drooling after the jump.