Ducati has finally begun to publicly acknowledge the existence of its upcoming next generation V-twin 1199 superbike with a press release that announces that it will break with Ducati tradition for the company’s supersport models and be given the name 1199 “Panigale”, derived from the Borgo Panigale region of Bologna where the factory is located. The bike will make its public debut at the Milan Show scheduled for November 10-13; needless to say, it will be the star attraction there, and any other manufacturer hoping to make a splash at the show might think otherwise.
The release also states that the 1199 Panigale will make its factory racing debut in the 2012 FIM World Superstock Championship—with Ducati not planning to officially race the bike in the World Superbike Championship until 2013. The two-stage racing plan will give Ducati additional time to develop the superbike racing version of the bike, as well as “help control costs for World Superbike teams who continue to compete in a 2012 version of the 1198 with technical support from Ducati engineers.”
Ducati’s somewhat controversial official pullout from World Superbike for 2011 caused a major stir, and the fact that the company will not be officially racing the 1199 in its debut year to help promote it signals that there are other priorities that need to be handled first. The struggles of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden in MotoGP are surely taking up a lot of the company’s engineering resources, and Ducati’s apparent confidence in the 1199’s racing potential will probably be seen once private WSBK teams take delivery and begin testing for next season.
Below is the teaser video for the 1199 released by Ducati: