Ducati from the beleaguered post-Dieselgate Volkswagen Group – we shouldn’t forget that the really important news is the imminent arrival of their new V4 superbike. Driven by the firm’s desire to recapture their World Superbike domination, and in support of their recent renewed focus and resurgent success in MotoGP, the new V4 will be a road bike evolved from the track – rather than a road bike turned racer.

The firm’s Panigale has been a rampant success in showrooms, and no slouch on the track in the hands of Shane Byrne and Chaz Davies, but the race department needs access to more than the current 1198 cc V-twin Panigale R can muster. With that bike already developing an impressive 19 3bhp in road trim – and a claimed 215-plus bhp race-ready – the firm has to be chasing a tangible step-up, which can’t come from weight loss, so has to come from power and control.

The likelihood is that we’ll see more like 205-210bhp in road trim, but over 230 bhp for race teams. With the Panigale R’s enormous 112mm pistons slapping away at 11,750 rpm (116 mm in the stocker, redlining at 10,500 rpm), the Superquadro is already at its outer limits for bore and rev ceiling harmony. More revs mean more power, and that’s far more achievable with multi-cylinder engines – but an inline four is too ordinary for Ducati, hence the move to a V4.

All the indications suggest that we’ll get two engine versions across a three-bike range. The current R is 1198cc, while the base and S models are 1285 cc and we expect Ducati to continue this tried and tested route. What is beyond any doubt is that there will have to be a 1000 cc version in order to comply with racing regulations for four cylinder bikes, and that those same regulations will force the release of a road-going homologation version.

Further still, this means that the new R model will have to cost less than 40,000 Euros to comply with World Superbike rulings. The race teams may force another significant point of difference, too. While all three test mules spied so far have featured the single-sided swingarm we’ve come to expect on Ducati’s flagship (ever since the massive 1098 climb-down in a post-999 world)– there’s a chance the R will boast a twin-spar item.


In terms of price, we’d expect the new base model V4 to cost around £ 19,000, with the S model arriving at around £ 23,500. The R, when it eventually arrives for 2019, seems likely to bust the £ 30k mark.