Ducati 1199 Panigale vs rivals - MOTOR GERR

It’s a sad fact for speed freaks that superbike sales have slipped in recent years, while things like naked and adventure bikes are on the up.

So can one of the most exciting, talked-about motorcycles this year - the Ducati Panigale - reignite our passion for all things very fast?

Ducati certainly hope so and have thrown the kitchen sink at the new flagship superbike.

It has the most powerful engine ever fitted to a Ducati road bike, it’s as light as a feather and packed with electronics and pre-set riding modes, which at a touch of a button give you differing levels of throttle response, power delivery, traction control, ABS, engine braking and with this S model, suspension settings, too.

To find out how it compares against its main rivals, we brought them all together for a shoot-out. Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, the new Yamaha R1 and Suzuki GSX-R1000 didn't make it to Sicily.

We rode all the bikes on Pirelli’s ultra-fast Pergusa circuit in Sicily and on the twisty roads near Mount Etna. The riders are regular MCN Road Testers Adam Child, Bruce Dunn, Michael Neeves, Pirelli test rider and Italian Superstock front runner (Ducati 1198) Alfio Tricomi and former World Superbike champ Neil Hodgson.

We used control tyres for all the bikes, as to test the bikes and not the tyres. For the road we selected the road-going Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SP and for the track the racing Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SC2.

We left all suspension settings stock (for practical reasons given the number of bikes and different riders), although selecting the Ducati’s different riding modes automatically change the Ohlins electronic suspension by default.

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