The Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore...
The Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore model comes stock with electronic suspension and ABS, both of which are banned in WSBK, except that rules permit them if those systems come as standard equipment on the homologated model.
MILAN, ITALY, NOV 9 – Ducati’s newest flagship made an immediate impression when it was launched earlier this week in Milan, but race fans will have to wait a year to see how it stacks up against the competition, at least at the highest levels.
In an interview with Sport Rider the day after the launch, Ducati Motor Holding General Manager Claudio Domenicali said the bike wasn’t ready for prime time, especially under the restrictive and punitive World Superbike rules.
“We will homologate the 1199 Panigale, but not for [World Superbike] next year,” Domenicali said, smartly dressed in a tie and blazer at the Ducati stand of EICMA, the motorcycle exposition on the outskirts of Milan, Italy. “We will homologate the bike for the Superstock, because the technical development is much more related to the production, so we are almost ready to go. While the Superbike, it’s far more extreme change in parts and extreme development, so we have taken our time,” he said
Ducati Motor Holding General...
Ducati Motor Holding General Manager Claudio Domenicali introduces the 1199 Panigale at the EICMA show in Milan.
The World Superbike system of maintaining a competitive balance punishes successful motorcycles by forcing them to add ballast. And because they have a 200cc displacement advantage, the Ducatis have to run restrictor plates in the intake ports. Those two factors, along with the continued competitiveness of the current model—“the 1198 is extremely competitive; we won the championship”—allow Ducati time to fully develop the Panigale before it makes its debut in 2012.
The FIM Rulebook states that “In order to equalize the performance of motorcycles with different engine configurations, changes in the minimum weight and air restrictor sizes are applied according to their respective racing performances. These handicaps are applied only to the ‘1200cc 2 cylinder’ machines homologated as from 01.01.2008.”
The minimum weight for the twins is fixed at 165 kgs/364 lb. It can be increased twice by three kilograms (6.6 lb), reaching a maximum of 171kg (377 lb). The basic formula for determining whether the weight should be increased is to take the “race points of the riders of the best two 1000cc four-cylinders and best two 1200cc 2 cylinders in each race, and calculating an average after every event known as ‘the event average.’ If only one rider from each configuration finishes the top finisher’s points are taken. Wet races don’t count.
At the beginning of the presentation,...
At the beginning of the presentation, Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio and General Manager Claudio Domenicali led a tribute to the late Marco Simoncelli, who was a friend of many at Ducati and the MotoGP team.
The averages of ‘event averages’ are then calculated after three events and if after those three races the 1200cc V-twins are favored by more than five points, and if a 1200cc V-twin rider is leading the World Championship standings, the minimum weight of all 1200cc V-twins goes up by three kilos. A second round of penalties can be applied after six events, after which the weights are maxed out at 171 kg/377 lb.
“So really there is very little incentive to put into the field a very fast machine, only to get more ballast,” Domenicali said. “So if the competitors are not getting a strong improvement in time, we will wait some time to homologate the bike, at least one year.”
The current air restrictors fitted to the Ducati intake ports have a 50mm opening. Domenicali expects the new engine, which uses 67.5mm throttle bodies, to also be restricted. He revealed that bench testing of restrictors on the Panigale Superquaddro engine had affected the performance, as expected, because, he explained, what the restrictors do is only allow so much air flow “and this engine is all about having big pistons and big valve for having a high air flow.”
Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio...
Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio (left) and GM Claudio Domenicali (right) pose with Italian actress Serena Autieri and the 1199 Panigale Tricolore.
The question of the standard fitment Ohlins electronic suspension (on the S and Tricolore models) was also raised. Active suspension isn’t allowed in World Superbike, but it is if it comes stock on the machine. The rule states that if “original electronic unit is used, it must be completely standard (any mechanical or electronic part must remain as homologated).
Of more concern to some is why this bike, which has a similar chassis concept as the Desmosedici GP11 MotoGP machine—it uses the engine as a stressed member—will be more successful. The MotoGP project has been troubled for years, with those problems being magnified this season by the struggles of Valentino Rossi. Which is why Ducati unveiled a twin spar chassis for the recently concluded Valencia post-season test. The problem with the GP11.1 and the GP11 before it, according to Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Jeremy Burgess, was that the engine couldn’t be moved. The team tried everything to mimic shifting the weight, but nothing came close to making the Desmosedici GP11.1 remotely competitive with the Hondas and the Yamahas or giving the riders front end feel. So why should it work in World Superbike?
“In a production bike you don’t have to move the engine except when you are in the development stage,” Domenicali said. “And so in the development we tried different positions. We did find what was the best and made a front weight basis and that’s it. So while on MotoGP it may be different. Maybe you have to adapt from circuit to circuit, so maybe it’s possible you get an advantage moving the engine. My personal opinion is that when a bike is well done it will work in a good way without changing from circuit to circuit, if that’s a good base. But that comes to personal opinion.”
Domenicali also challenged the notion that the Panigale 1199 is any more of a premium product than the 1098 that preceded it. He said that the price was a little bit higher than the 1098, but that was because the technical content of the machine was much higher, “so we are in the same range. It’s, of course a bike, that it’s a bit more expensive than competitors, but the level of technology, it’s very high. The weight and the rider feeling is very peculiar and I’m sure that our fan once they will try the bike, they fill feel the difference.”
None of the restrictions is stopping the Panigale from being raced in the FIM 1000cc Superstock World Cup, which they won this year with Italian David Guigliano. The Panigale was also offered to AMA Superbike teams for 2012, but the cost and restrictive AMA Superbike rules make it less than attractive. Teams were offered the chance to lease the bikes with a factory supplied technician and technical updates for €600,000 Euro, or about $840,000 at today’s exchange rates.