2019 BikeWale Trackday: Ducati Panigale V4

Gallery Introduction Performance Handling Track Goodness

Introduction

While I am sure most of our well informed readers might already know this, still I shall begin by saying that the Ducati Panigale V4 is one of the most powerful, road-legal superbike in the world and it is also the first ever production Ducati to use to use a 4-cylinder engine. Right. So, with that off my chest, I can now get to the part where I got to ride it at the Chennai racetrack. Naturally, given its magnificent reputation, I had butterflies in my tummy thinking about how intimidating the bike would really be. And that exotic bodywork even touches the abrasive tarmac, I would probably end up being a slave for the rest of my life. Well, I still managed to hop on and give it a rip and here's what transpired...

Performance

Power to the tune of 211bhp, 124Nm of torque and just 198kg in weight. With those kind of numbers, the brain pretty much refuses to function because it is hard to fathom just how brutally the V4 explodes out of the corner. This thing just blurs scenery like nothing else with that sexy soundtrack ringing in your ears. It is only after a few laps that I realised that even with all that performance, there are no peaks, no troughs, no naughty moments anywhere in the rev range. Just a seamless linear delivery and that's what makes the V4 such a friendly machine.

Being a relatively small track, the Panigale just mocks the straights and before you know it, C1 is already approaching. Going hard on the brakes is another god-like experience. I say god-like because the Brembo monoblocs just bite so hard that you almost feel like you are going to go over. The super-hero brakes along with traction control, together with the cornering ABS system, wheelie control, and slide control ensure that you don't meet god too soon.

Handling

While the engine itself is epic, the Panigale boasts of equally insane handling attributes. It feels like a 600 to throw around, steers like a no-nonsense race bike and boasts supernatural levels of grip that goad you into taking superhero liberties.

I had to keep reminding myself to keep things in check because of what the momentary lapse would cost me and the fact that I was riding on stock, not fresh tyres. The V4, in the meantime, was just giggling away at my amateurish attempt to test its boundaries.

The turn-ins are super quick and the V4 just dips eagerly into corners regardless of whether it's tight or sweeping. The fully adjustable showa front forks and the Sachs monoshock at the rear worked brilliantly in ironing out the bumpy sections of the track.

The electronics work well too and frankly you really have to be a 'bantai' to screw it up. Once I managed to get the hang of it and everything was up to temperature, which it was in no time, thanks to the scorching heat, the electronics package ticked all the boxes when it came to performance and safety.

Track Goodness

The track is the Panigale V4's home and believe me, had this been a road review, it would have turned out vastly different. But the Panigale V4 is actually pretty much a racebike which is just posing as a street superbike. Everything from its moto GP derived race engine, the brilliant chassis, the heroic brakes and the full suite of electronics are made to be exploited on the track.

And they all come together to make even an amateur rider like me look bloody fast. It's insanely quick and has loads of capabilities should you have the cojones for it and if you trust the the huge list of electronics that the bike has to offer.

So if you are a track junkie and you are looking for a new set of wheels to hunt down those apexes, destroy those straights and feel like god, the Panigale V4 should be right up your alley.

Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi