Prototype to debut at Pikes Peak this month.
Ducati has confirmed that it will be whipping the fairings off its Panigale V4 to create a new model, the Streetfighter V4.
The new model will be officially unveiled at Milan’s EICMA show in November, with an on-sale date slated for March 2020, but a prototype will be fired up the hill at this month’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with stunt rider and multiple winner Carlin Dunne behind the high and wide handlebars.
The V4 will be Ducati’s second attempt at a Streetfighter model. The previous incarnation, launched in 2009, was based on the old 1098 superbike (with a 848cc version also available) but was never a popular model.
In keeping with tradition, the new Streetfighter V4 is basically Panigale V4 stripped of its fairings and fitted with high, flat handlebars. Unlike the old Streetfighter, which was arguably ahead of the market trend for big nakeds, the 1103cc V4 will go head to head with some utterly bonkers supernakeds like the Yamaha MT-10, BMW S1000R, Aprilia Tuono V4 and KTM Super Duke R.
The prototype will make its debut in next month’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The ‘Race to the Clouds’ is becoming a popular place for manufacturers to show off their wares. The 12.42 mile course runs along a cliff edge and has 156 corners. The record time for motorcycles is just under 10 minutes.
As well as Dunne on the Ducati, Isle of Man TT legend Michael Dunlop is set to take a BMW S1000RR up the hill, while electric bike pioneers Zero Motorcycles have drafted in AMA racer Cory West with a brief to break the outright record on their new SR/F streetfighter.
Ducati’s prototype will race with a distinctive “pixelated” prototype livery, designed by the Centro Stile Ducati. Ducati says that the pixelated design has been styled to show off the Streetfighter’s lines, rather than to hide them.
“The Streetfighter V4 will be one of the stars of the Ducati World Premiere 2020,” explained Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati. “Streetfighter V4 is the Panigale for road riding; so there was no better stage than the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for what will be the highest performance Streetfighter ever put into production.”