DUCATI PANIGALE V4 S

Taming what is the world's most desirable, yet highly demanding superbike is a lot easier now!

- ABHAY VERMA

Iwant to start this review with a throwback, to October 2012. The very next day after the big boys from MotoGP were done laying down rubber around the fast and flowing Sepang International Circuit, I got to ride Ducati's then new flagship superbike and the very first Panigale, the 1199S, on track. It was my first time riding a full-blown litre-class superbike at a MotoGP circuit, and I came back very impressed. At the same time I also felt the bike was very demanding physically, though I was quick to shun the thought, looking at greats like Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss play with it as if it were a toy, right in front of my eyes.

And the sheer adrenaline rush of hitting nearly 300kmph down Sepang's long straight every two minutes or so, with the front furiously trying to come up in the first five gears, besides the raw pace the bike allowed me to carry through corners, meant the laborious task of muscling it around corners was forgotten easily. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when Ducati India's email inviting TURBOCHARGED to test the new generation Panigale V4 at another MotoGP circuit, the Chang International Circuit in Thailand, popped into my inbox and I found myself smiling. It's a circuit I'd tested the 959 Panigale on a few years ago, and as luck would have it, we were to ride the new Panigale V4 at Chang just weeks after the circuit hosted a round of this year's MotoGP championship!