The rumors of Tom Sykes leaving WorldSBK for the British Superbike paddock have come true, as the former World Champion has signed up with the Paul Bird Motorsports crew for the 2022 season.
Sykes will lineup alongside Josh Brookes, and ride the PBM Ducati Panigale V4 R in the British domestic series, which is sure to make him a BSB Superbike favorite, as PBM hunts for its 9th BSB title.
Ducati isn’t done showing its 2022 model lineup, with the Italian manufacturer suggesting that we will see three more model announcements in the next few weeks.
Teasing three release dates (and thus presumably three new models), Ducati has virtual launches set for February 17th, March 3rd, and March 10th, which will stream on the company’s YouTube channel.
What models could Ducati be getting ready to launch? According to the sleuthing done by Motorcycle.com, we have a good idea what two of those three bikes might be.
A move that has been rumored and tipped for some time now, Danilo Petrucci is headed to the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship for the 2022 season, on a Warhorse HSBK Ducati racing a Panigale V4.
The Italian rider all but confirmed the news when he was on our Paddock Pass Podcast, and even then the news was widely expected to come to reality soon, with Petrucci simply saying that the paperwork needed to be completed before he could make an announcement.
That day is here now though, and the Italian’s arrival in the MotoAmerica paddock is certainly going to help elevate the status of the series, not only with American fans, but also with international racing enthusiasts.
With industry trade shows like EICMA and INTERMOT having to cancel their 2020 plans because of coronavirus concerns, motorcycle brands are having to get creative on how they are debuting their 2021 wares.
To that end, Ducati has just released its plan, and it involves over a month of stealing headlines with its new model year releases.
It was just two months ago that we were talking about one of the latest build kits from Lego, as it was a Technic set for the Ducati Panigale V4 R (kit #42107).
As such, our love for the little Danish bricks should be well known, especially when it intersects our love for motorcycles.
Today, we again see nice overlap of those two worlds on the Venn diagram, as Lego artist Riccardo Zangelmi has created this 1:1 replica of the Ducati Panigale V4 R, in order to celebrate the launch of Ducati’s much smaller Lego kit offering.
There are two things I want to say off the bat. First, we will always post motorcycle-related stories about Legos – partially because Lego bricks hold a special place in this author’s formative years, but also because we want to support Denmark’s #1 export to the rest of the world.
Second, the Ducati Panigale V4 R is absolutely worth every dollar of its $40,000 price tag. Every. Dollar. The bike is amazing. If you want the best superbike on the market, there it is in all of its 230hp glory (of course you’re going to put the “optional” exhaust on it, are you kidding me??!).
That being said, if you want a slightly cheaper alternative to Ducati’s superbike opus, and have a little fun during these “stay at home” days, then we have a good option for you. Say hello to the Ducati Panigale V4 R superbike build kit from Lego.
That Ducati would make a “Superleggera” version of its popular Panigale V4 superbike is a clear given, as the Italian brand has made a run of these “super light” machines for each of its previous two superbikes.
While there was chatter that we would see the Ducati Superleggera V4 at EICMA this year, that rumor was clearly misguided, as the folks at Borgo Panigale prefer to use its Superleggera models as a sort of farewell, before its makes a model update.
This leaves next year though as a likely candidate as to when we will see the Ducati Superleggera V4, and documents found in the United Kingdom by the esteemed BikeSocial are giving us our first glimpse into what we can expect.
A couple weeks ago, we talked about the prospects of seeing Ducati Corse going racing in the Endurance World Championship, and if the Ducati Panigale V4 R could make an appearance at the Suzuka 8-Hours.
It might be a while before we see the Italian manufacturer in the FIM EWC series in an official capacity, but the start of the 2019-2020 season is already giving us a glimpse of what we can expect from Ducati.
This is because the Hertrampf Racing Endurance Team from Germany is using the Ducati Panigale V4 R in the endurance series this season.
With Ducati joining the ranks of proper 1,000cc superbikes with the Panigale V4 R, it opens up a list opportunities that previously weren’t available to the Italian brand. One of those events is the Suzuka 8-Hours.
Of course, we already did see a Ducati Panigale V4 R at this year’s Suzuka race, but what we are ruminating about here is a full-factory effort from the Ducati Corse crew.
According to Paolo Ciabatti in his talked to Italy’s GPOne publication, the Ducati Corse Sporting Director, the idea isn’t off the table, though the circumstances of Ducati’s involvement in the Suzuka 8-Hours is very specific.
Recall news from Ducati North America today, as the entire Ducati Panigale V4 lineup is being recalled because fuel might spray out of the bike’s fuel tank…again.
This happens when there is an excessive amount of pressure in the fuel tank, which may cause fuel to spray when opening the fuel cap. Obviously, spraying fuel can lead to a safety hazard, hence the recall.
In total, 1,880 superbike are affected by this recall, which includes all the Panigale V4 variants from 2017 thru 2019 – this means the Panigale V4, Panigale V4 S, Panigale V4 Speciale, and Panigale V4 R.
The check boxes are getting ticked by the Ducati Panigale V4 R. WorldSBK race winner? Check! British Superbike race winner? Check! Road Racing winner? Not just yet.
The Ducati Panigale V4 R was designed and developed to dominate, and Gigi Dall’igna has said that the goal is to make the bike the most sought after Superbike in every paddock.
Last year the Italian spoke about how important it was to win the North West 200 because this was a race that Ducati had never won. Breaking new ground was important 12 months ago, and it’s even more important now.
The new bike is one that can, in theory, be a contender at the Suzuka 8 Hours, and finally give Ducati a reliable platform to compete at races such as that. The North West 200 is also a potential precursor to once again seeing Ducati on the roads of the Isle of Man.
This bike has the potential to be a real challenger, but it will take success this weekend to really show just how good the Panigale V4 R can become.
To find out what goes into making a bike into a contender on the roads Asphalt & Rubber talked with Paul Bird Motorsport to find out exactly what it takes.