We should have officially named this week Ducati Week, because the Italian brand can’t seem to stay out of the headlines. First, it was the announcement that the “Final Edition” of the Ducati 1299 Panigale would debut at Laguna Seca (the details of which leaked yesterday, too).
Then, it was news that Harley-Davidson might become the owner of Ducati Motor Holding, after news of Ducati’s possible divestiture from the Volkswagen Group has been swirling in business circles for the better part of the past few months.
And now, we have what look like the first photos of Ducati’s V4 superbike project, courtesy of our Belgian friends at MaxxMoto.
A document reportedly sent to Ducati dealers in the United Kingdom appears to spill some juicy details on the upcoming “Final Edition” Panigale superbike.
Allegedly, the “Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition” will come with 209hp at the crank, thanks to a number of engine modifications. The final installment of the v-twin superbike will also allegedly weigh a paltry 419 lbs when fully fueled (370 lbs dry). Shazam!
As we saw in the video teaser, the bike will have a red and white front fairing, with a green tail section, which looks similar to what was seen on the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, with a little tricolore flare.
It also appears to have a special Akrapovic exhaust, which we have seen already on the Superleggera and the Ducati Panigale R WorldSBK machine.
We bring you some good news today, Max Biaggi is said to have had a successful surgery this week at the San Camillo Hospital, after his supermoto crash from two weeks ago.
The six-time world champion underwent surgery to his chest, in what the hospital calls a “thoracoscopic toilette of the right pleural cavity.” This was to repair a tear in his lung cavity.
Biaggi will continue to remain in the hospital’s intensive care unit, with painkillers and supplemental oxygen, where his prognosis is listed as “reserved” for now. The surgery was considered a success however, and all signs seem to point to Biaggi’s recovery.
Spanish tax authorities have been stepping up their game in recent months, and now they have two high-profile cases to show for their hard work. This matters in the two-wheeled universe because one of the case involves former MotoGP racer Sete Gibernau.
According to prosecutors in Barcelona, Gibernau defrauded the Spanish government of roughly €2.8 million. Gibernau on the other-hand says that during the time in question, from 2005 to 2006, he did not live in Spain, but instead lived in Switzerland.
Spanish prosecutors however state that Gibernau did not live in Switzerland, like he says, but instead lived in Esplugues de Llobregat, a province in Catalunya.
Traditionally if you wanted to watch the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, you would have to wake up around 3am in the morning, freeze your butt off in your car for a couple hours while you waited in line at the gates, and then jockey for position somewhere reasonably unsafe on the race course to watch the cars and bikes fly past.
With poor cellphone reception, spotty video coverage, and no strong media deals, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has floundered when it comes to engaging race fans in the digital age. Add into it more restrictive fan zones, and the viewing experience has certainly diminished, thus taking away from this once iconic race.
However for the 95th running of the “Race to the Clouds”, America’s only true road race has a new media partner, Matchsports, who will live-stream the event with 22 cameras, for racing fans. This has the potential to be a huge win for the struggling series…assuming it works this time.
Rumors and reports continue to swirl around Ducati, as the Italian manufacturer is linked to one brand or another for a potential divestiture from the Volkswagen Group. And now, the latest name being thrown into the hat is none other than iconic American brand Harley-Davidson.
In a report by Reuters, Harley-Davidson is linked to buying Ducati by unnamed sources, with a purchase price that is pegged around €1.5 billion, a number that has been put together by the bean-counting minds at Goldman Sachs.
Volkswagen is said to be taking bids on Ducati this July, which means the fate of the Italian motorcycle brand could be decided by the end of this year.
The folks at Bologna seem to have a few mid-summer releases for us this year, with the Italian brand announcing today the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro Pro.
The Enduro Pro is a pretty straight-forward parts-bin special, with a rough-surface sand-colored livery and more than a few parts from the Ducati Performance catalog coming as standard. The big change is the Pirelli Scorpion Rally tires – 120/70 R19 at the front, 170/60 R17 at the rear, which come fitted stock.
Other highlights include Touratech bull bars with auxiliary LED lights; a lower windscreen for better off-road viewing; and a slip-on exhaust from Termignoni. So everyone will know that you’re headed off-road, the word “Enduro” is prominently emblazoned on the machine.
As such, this well-equipped ADV bike is the second model announced by Ducati this week, with the last iteration of the Ducati 1299 Panigale teased, ahead of its Laguna Seca debut, as well.
I am about to ruin your day, because I am going to show you something that you will want very badly, but can’t have. It is what happens when you have the best of both worlds. It is the two-wheeled version of having your cake and eating it too.
This machine is called the Yamaprilia, and as the name implies, it is a mashup of the Yamaha RZ350 and the Aprilia RS250. Using the two-stroke, twin-cylinder engine from the RZ350, and the twin-spar aluminum chassis of the RS250, owner Gareth Evans is looking for the best of both worlds.
The build is an interesting one – and is featured by our friends at BikeEXIF – as it involves Evans fabricating more than a few parts himself – something that is easier to do when you have a background in mechanical engineering, like Evans does.
With five podium-finishes at this year’s Isle of Man TT, Peter Hickman is the man to watch in future TT fortnights, as the 30-year-old is showing tremendous talent and progress with his racing.
Helping Hickman to those finishes in the superbike classes (Superbike TT, Superstock TT, and Senior TT) was the BMW HP4, the Bavarian brand’s carbon-fiber-everything liter-bike that was just unveiled earlier this year.
A talented rider, an amazing machine, and one of the most iconic race tracks in the world? That sounds like the recipe for an epic onboard video.
Grab a stopwatch before you click play though, and see how much time Hickman’s front wheel spends in the air. It’s impressive.
While everyone else seems to be turning a blind eye to aerodynamics, Ducati continues to be the brand pushing the aero envelope with its designs.
As such, World Superbike fans may have seen this weekend that Chaz Davies was sporting a unique rear end, as Ducati Corse continues to experiment with a lenticular wheel setup.
A piece of technology borrowed mostly from cycling, the carbon fiber disc “wheel cover” provides a more slippery surface for the wind to flow over, than the chaos that comes from a spinning spoked wheel on a motorcycle.