Singularly Purposeful

Ducati produce a road-going single-cylinder for the first time in half a century and enter the supermoto class with intent

- Adam Child

FOR THOSE OF US WHO ASSOCIATE the Ducati brand with V-twins-or L-twins as some prefer it might be time to rethink. Yes, the configuration still thrives in the form of the Superquadro V2 and Testastretta desmos, but it is the V4 Desmosedici Stradale R and Granturismo powerhouses that make the big numbers these days.

And now, for 2024, there is another non-twin-another performance-focused headline-maker that threatens to shake up not only some Ducatisti purists but also our perceptions of what a single-cylinder engine should be.

The Superquadro Mono is Ducati's first single since the 549cc Supermono racer of the mid-1990s and first production single since the bevel engines of the 1970s. Effectively one half of a 1299's Superquadro V2 Panigale, the 659-cc four-valve desmo makes 77.5 hp and revs to an astonishing 10,250 rpm, making it both the most powerful and highest revving production single the world has yet seen.

The first machine to receive the 698 Mono power unit is this, the all-new Hypermotard 698 Mono: 151 kilograms of extralight and fast-steering fun and games, a road-legal but virtually ready-to-race supermoto scalpel.