DUCATI’S famous superbike, the Panigale V4, is now in the country. Its formal launch was a three-day event that started with a press conference on November 21 and a ride experience for members of the media and motorcycle aficionados, who brought in their steeds at the Clark International Speedway inside the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
Dubbed as the “Open Trackday” and the “Ducati Experience,” participants were able to witness and rubbed elbows with Ducati MotoGP rider and World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa, who was joined by European Women’s Supersport champion Rebecca Bianchi, WSBK Stock 1000 riders Federico Sandi and TJ Alberto (the only Filipino in the Stock 1000 World SBK Championship), together with Ducati DRE Lead Technical Manager Dario Marchetti, as they rode the new Panigale V4 around the track.
At the press conference, Dominique Cheraki, Ducati’s Asia-Pacific market director, congratulated Ducati Philippines CEO Toti Alberto for being the best importer in Asia, which was met by a loud applause from all those who were present. Alberto thanked Ducati and the media as well for the support that they’ve been getting.
Dario Marchetti, lead technical manager, gave a short description on the new Panigale when he said, “The new bike is a really wonderful bike, very easy to ride with a lot of available performance. I test those MotoGP [bikes] which Ducati did in 2010 and this bike has better performance than the older MotoGP. It is very easy to ride, very safe, thanks to electronic accessories that take care of the customer’s safety, because we don’t lose our customer,” he finished, with the last sentence eliciting chuckles from the media.
TJ Alberto answered the query on what he needs to be successful in his chosen field, he said, “I think we need more support not just me but the community. If the local racing community grows, the level goes higher, it will also help the international racers go abroad and when they come back, it will help them to train better, ride better.”
Bianchi, on the other hand, told the media that she started riding minibikes at a tender young age of seven years old and at 15 years old, she was already competing and went on from one team to another like Yamaha, Kawasaki and Augusta Italian bikes in the European championships, mostly in 600cc category.
And when I asked her on what she loves about Ducati, she answered with a wide grin, “Oh, it’s Italian,” drawing laughter from the media.
Meanwhile, Checa said he has more time with his family now that he is retired from racing, but is still very much involved in the sport in a way, by promoting it.
After the press conference, media riders who had signified their intentions to try out the Panigale on the track had a final briefing with Ducati officials led by Marchetti before going out.
The Panigale V4 is a very impressive bike, its 1103cc liquid-cooled, 4-stroke Desmodronic, DOHC 16-valve V4 engine is the first of its kind produced by Ducati and is rated at 214 horsepower at a dizzying 13,000 rpm. Thus, giving it an acceleration that is faster than most supercars today. But being a Ducati, it is packed with a lot of safety features such as traction, drift and wheelie controls. An ABS for high-speed cornering and even an electronically adjustable Ohlins suspension, just to name a few.
Suffice to say, all the participants had a field day driving it around the track and gushed on how well it handled the corners after the ride. Unfortunately, I haven’t ridden a bike of that caliber for quite some time now, that’s why I didn’t participate in the ride experience but maybe in the near future.
The 2018 Panigale V4 is now available in Ducati showrooms.
Image credits: Patrick P. Tulfo