V4 TRICOLORE: NEXT-LEVEL...

If the RC30 is the epitome of smoothness and refinement, the Panigale is the very definition of violence and overwhelming levels of performance. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t refined or unsophisticated because it is all of those things, which — on the road, at least — is one of its greatest tricks... out of many.

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It’s hard to know exactly where to start with the Ducati because it’s such a vast motorcycle in terms of tech and performance reserves. It goes without saying that the experience of riding one alongside the RC30 is a contrast, so I guess I'll start with the one and only thing that they have in common: the V4 engine.

As well as being of a larger capacity, the Panigale’s engine has more traditional chain driven cams, where the RC30 has oh-so-trick gear-driven cams.

The Panigale’s valve train is, of course, desmodromic, so instead of valve springs to close the valves, it’s got another camshaft to do that. It’s also got a crankshaft that rotates backwards, which also has its crank pins set to a different position to the RC30, to produce a firing order of 0-90-290-380 degrees for an uneven ‘Twin Pulse’ firing order to replicate the power delivery of a V-twin. The RC30’s, while not even like an inline four-cylinder engine, is still regular and of a far more traditional V4 firing order. There’s also a dry clutch, fuel injection with split throttle bodies, and it revs to 14,500rpm, where the RC30 goes to 12,500rpm.