This is the all new Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine that will power Ducati’s new Panigale V4, revealed minutes ago at a press conference at MotoGP in Misano, Italy.
The new engine is set to power Ducati’s new Panigale V4 superbike which will replace the 1299 Panigale as Ducati’s top superbike.
The motor is Inspired by Ducati’s 270bhp Desmosedici GP bike, which currently leads the MotoGP World Championship in the hands of Andrea Dovizioso, and has claimed four wins so far this season. The firm say it’s as close as possible to the MotoGP bike.
The new road bike motor is a 90 degree, 1100cc with an 80mm bore and will make 210bhp. Although it carries two more cylinders, Ducati say the engine is lighter than the V-twin.
Sadly we won’t get to see the complete bike until the EICMA Show next month. The road bike is ready to go with the race bike testing programme beginning soon.
Announcing the new motor, Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali said they still love the V-twin format that Ducati is famous for, but they wanted to get more power from the Panigale engine and are running out of options taking the 1299 motor any bigger. He said: “Announcing this engine is like having a new baby and bringing it to life. In the future we will have an electric engine, but for now let’s excite having an exciting engine like this.”
He continued: “The engine is super close to the MotoGP engine, the angle of the cylinder and the bottom of the engine is close to the MotoGP, we tried not to compromise. Of course one is a race engine and has a shorter life, but wherever possible we tried not to compromise.”
Apart from the MotoGP V4, Ducati has a long history of producing V4 engines. It started with the ill-fated Apollo V4 cruiser in the sixties. Only two of those were ever produced and it was originally designed as a Police bike, but the Police felt it had too much power for the tyre technology of the day.
Ducati released a super expensive Desmosedici RR back in 2007. That bike was never a mass-produced bike like the V4 Panigale will be. It cost £40,000 when new, and was released as a limited-edition run of 1500 motorcycles as a road-going MotoGP replica. They still hold their value today with good used examples selling in the region of £45,000.
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