The Grand Finale

- Chris Newbigging and Michael Rutter

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM, join them. Or, in Ducati’s case, if you can’t beat them, bring a MotoGP-derived engine to WSB and try again. From next year, their flagship, WSB homologated road-bike will have a V4 engine – henceforth they will only use V-twins in tamer, road oriented models.

The winningest manufacturer in world level production racing last won the big prize in 2011, with Carlos Checa on a 1098R. Then Max Biaggi on a (sometimes rule-flouting) Aprilia RSV4 took the honours, and with the exception of another pot for the Noale boys in 2014 with Guintoli, Kawasaki’s ZX-10R has bossed the championship in the hands of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea. The all-new frameless, radical Superquaddro engined Panigle (on the grid since 2013) hasn’t managed to emulate the success of the trellis-framed bikes. Try as they might, the physical and technical limitations of a V-twin can’t be overcome. Development has all but plateaued, while the fours continue to progress. Time for a change.