Not to be outdone by Ducati’s upcoming Streetfighter V4, the folks in Austria are gearing up to revise their highly acclaimed KTM 1290 Super Duke R.
As before, “Beast 2.0” gets teased to us with a variety of quick-cuts in a video, though each of them gives us a glimpse of what is to come from Mattighofen.
What we don’t see though is the spec-sheet, and that is where the new battle in the streetfighter segment is going to be waged.
What will change under MotoGP’s revised aerodynamic rules for 2020? In mid-July the Grand Prix Commission reached agreement on how to address ‘grey areas’ in the current regulations.
Their focus had been sharpened by a rare public spat involving five of the six manufacturers over the legality of Ducati’s swingarm spoiler, which went to the MotoGP Court of Appeal.
With the full 2020 amendments yet to be published, we spoke to MotoGP Director of Technology Corrado Cecchinelli to find out what to expect in terms of the future aerodynamic (and electronics) regulations. Here is a transcript of that conversation.
All the rumors and speculation can now stop. Here it is. Here is the Ducati Streetfighter V4 prototype that will be racing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Record-holder Carlin Dunne will pilot the Streetfighter V4 prototype for Ducati, in a bid to set a new outright motorcycle record on the Mountain.
In the announcement, Ducati acknowledges that we will see the Streetfighter V4 properly debut at the EICMA show later this November, and that the production model will be in dealerships by March 2020.
Imagine you have been given the opportunity to ride the iconic grand prix track at Mugello, and that you are going to do it on a superbike with well over 200hp at the crank. It has the latest technology, both in terms of electronic rider aids and physical aerodynamics. And oh, the Tuscan sun will be shining on you the whole day.
This is a sport rider’s dream. This is fat check mark on any two-wheeled enthusiast’s motorcycling bucket list. When the folks at Noale invited us to come ride the new Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory at the famed Italian race track in the Tuscany region, our affirmative reply didn’t take long to send.
I won’t lie and and try and pretend that the prospect of riding at Mugello hasn’t been high on my list of things to do before I die, but bucket-lists aside, I wanted to see where Aprilia was standing, now 10 years after the original debut of its RSV4 superbike.
What was really “new” about the decade-old machine? How did it compare to the new offerings in the industry? And, is all the hype about winglets really grounded in reality?
Well..I came back from Mugello overwhelmed, impressed, and befuddled. Let me explain.
Today, at 11am CET, the MotoGP Court of Appeal meets to consider the case of Ducati’s swing arm spoiler, fitted to all three Desmosedici GP19s raced at the opening MotoGP round in Qatar.
Three trained lawyers are to hear the case put by Aprilia, Honda, KTM, and Suzuki, that Ducati’s spoiler breaches the technical guidelines set out by MotoGP Technical Director Danny Aldridge.
The Court of Appeal is hearing the case after it was rejected twice on the Sunday evening of the Qatar race.
The FIM Stewards first rejected the protest submitted by the four manufacturers against Ducati, and the FIM Appeal Stewards upheld that decision when those four manufacturers appealed the FIM Stewards’ rejection.
The FIM Appeal Stewards then referred that decision to the highest court inside the FIM, the FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal.
At the heart of the appeal is the belief that Ducati’s spoiler creates an aerodynamic downforce. This is a violation of the technical guidelines issued by Danny Aldridge during preseason testing, which banned aerodynamic parts being attached to the rear swing arm unless they were being used to deflect water, protect the tire from debris, or cool the rear tire.
Andrea Dovizioso’s victory in the opening race of the 2019 MotoGP season at Qatar is currently subject to appeal. Dovizioso raced in Qatar using the aerodynamic components previously debuted by factory Ducati teammate Danilo Petrucci at the Qatar test, and used by Petrucci and Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller during practice at the Qatar MotoGP round.
It’s here. The next generation of four-cylinder sport bike from MV Agusta just broke cover at this year’s EICMA show in Milan. As such, say hello to the 2019 MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro. This is likely as close as you will ever get to one, as only 300 will be built.
An evolution of Massimo Tamburini’s original Brutale design, the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro does not disappoint, especially with its 205hp (152 kW) peak power figure – the highest performance figure of any production streetfighter.
With the special race kit installed, power on the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro increases to 209hp (156 kW), with the 4-1-4 titanium exhaust from SC Project highlighting the change in peak horsepower.
The big reveal at Ducati’s live stream event for EICMA 2018 is surely the Italian brand’s new homologation racing machine, the Ducati Panigale V4 R. A 998cc version of its potent street bike, the 2019 Ducati Panigale V4 R takes full advantage of the homologation rules for the WorldSBK Championship.
As such, the Ducati Panigale V4 R will surely hit the top limit of the World Superbike pricing cap, which is €40,000. For that price though, you get the pinnacle of Ducati’s superbike technology, including the company’s first use of winglets on a street-legal machine, which come straight from Ducati Corse’s MotoGP program.
Of course, the real show-stopper for the 2019 Ducati Panigale V4 R are the tech specs: 217hp (162 kW), with 83 lbs•ft (112 Nm) of peak torque, wrapped up in a 425 lbs (193kg) package, when fully fueled at the curb.
When the MotoGP rules moved to ban winglets in the premier class, it was clear that this cut deeper at Ducati than any other brand, and that this simply wasn’t just a loophole closed technical regulation. The Italian motorcycle manufacturer had invested heavily in aerodynamic aids on motorcycles, with an eye on bringing the technology to its production machines.
This led us here at Asphalt & Rubber to speculate for over a year now about the addition of winglets to Borgo Panigale’s upcoming homologation special, the Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Fueling the fire has been the World Superbike Championship’s allowance for winglets, so long as they come on the homologation bike, all but sealing the deal that we would see manufacturers following suit. As such, we have already seen Aprilia dabble in this arena, and now it seems Ducati is about to show its hand.
Heads up GP fans, as the MotoGP Championship is set to close two crucial loopholes in its rulebook for the 2019 season, which the Grand Prix Commission says in its press release are needed in order to keep the sport within the spirit of the rules.
The first loophole blandly affects the spec-ECU and its CAN protocol and connection, which is fairly innocuous until you read between the lines of it, while the second concerns the regulation of aerodynamic bodywork, which should be more obvious to regular MotoGP fans.
Once upon a time, a post-race test would see almost a full complement of riders taking part. But in the past couple of years that has changed, as spec software has meant fewer things to do.
The spec software, the engine freeze, the aerodynamics freeze: there is less to test, and so more factories are opting out of the one-day post-race tests.
So it was at Jerez on Monday that the factory Ducati riders, the Ecstar Suzuki team, and the Gresini Aprilia squad all decided to skip the test at Jerez in favor of some private testing at Mugello later in the week.
Behind closed doors, they can work a little more freely, away from the prying eyes of the press, and especially of a contingent of photographers.
There are other reasons to be wary of a post-race test. The track is in as good a condition as it is going to get on the Monday after a race. It has been swept clean by a weekend of racing, and the last class to smear its rubber all over the track is MotoGP.
So the bikes are treated to a clean, well rubbered in circuit, allowing lap times to drop. The average improvement between the race and the test was nearly 1.3 seconds a lap.
About half the 16 permanent riders who took to the track on Monday improved their times from qualifying. It is fair to say that Monday tests can be deceptive.