Ducati V4 Superbike Spotted Testing
Rennie Scaysbrook | June 30, 2017
It’s been years in the making, but the Ducati V4 superbike has finally been spotted testing in Europe.
Similar looks to the current Panigale hide a V4 behemoth engine inside.
Ducati has been hinting at a production V4 superbike for a very long time, after first releasing in the MotoGP replica Desmosedici D16RR way back in 2006.
The company has always been true to its V-twin roots and has released ever more powerful and technologically advanced versions of its Panigale to stay competitive in Superbike competition, but the advent of a V4 means a direct link from the MotoGP program to the consumer and is set to fundamentally change the Ducati superbike forever.
It’s been a busy time for Ducati lately, with the drip feed release of the Panigale Final Edition—a machine set to be unveiled to the public at the upcoming Laguna Seca WorldSBK round.
We’ve known the Ducati V4 has been in the works since January and has been developed as the racing successor to the Panigale, however, the machine will not be race ready until 2019, and we expect to see a production-ready version of the V4 at the EICMA Show in Milan this year.
You can see the cast aluminum frame and tubular steel subframe in this shot.
There’s big changes not just in the engine but also the chassis of the new V4. The Panigale’s monocoque is now gone, replaced by a conventional twin-spar design and a tubular steel subframe. The rear shock’s placement has moved to the left rear, just behind the rider’s ankle, while the fork has no sign of electronic adjustment like on the current Panigale S. Expect that to change when the V4 hits the market.
The bodywork is similar to the Panigale range although slightly wider, indicating the designers want to keep the physical evolution of the machine that debuted in 2012 in tact.
No word has been released on the official name of the machine or indeed the capacity, although for it to race in WorldSBK it has to be under 1000cc for a four-cylinder engine. There is a possibility Ducati could release a 1200cc road version, much like Norton did with their V4 SS machine, while keeping a higher spec R model under 1000cc for racing purposes.
Photography by BMH Images.
