Rocketship

The most powerful Ducati, the Panigale V4 S ridden on one of the most technical MotoGP circuits, Sepang. To say that our socks were knocked off would be an understatement.

- Devesh Shobha

However, the scraping of knees and elbow sliders while leaning into corners, pulling a power wheelie while exiting corners, and getting the tail out going into corners should be a walk in the park for any skilful motorcycle rider – all thanks to a red Ducati sportsbike. Not just any red Ducati, make it the ultimate Ducati sportsbike on sale today, the Panigale V4. MotoGP-style lean angles of over 50 degrees, anyone? Don’t worry, as demonstrated by Valia and as I personally found out on the race track, it’s quite possible to scrape your knee and elbow sliders while still being in absolute control of the motorcycle.

Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away, I didn’t really scrape my elbows. But had I grown big enough gonads to do that, I could have – it’s the sort of a big bike that instills a lot of self confidence, persistently urging you to push your limits on a race track. It’s not just the most powerful Ducati, but at 211bhp, it certainly is the most powerful production sportsbike worth your money, and despite that, it still handles like a dreamy 800cc supersport. Wondering how that’s possible? Well, alongside all those class-leading power figures, there lies a web of best-in-class tech wizardry that works overtime to make life easier in that surprisingly comfortable saddle. You heard it right, the Panigale V4 is a lot more forgiving compared to most of its litre-class rivals and that sort of reassurance isn’t easy to come by.

And when you’re at the helm of what is the most powerful production sportsbike of the modern era, that sort of reassurance helps you calm your nerves. What doesn’t is riding on a technical racetrack like the Sepang International