The Imola circuit is certainly not the easiest to learn since it involves a number of elevation changes and most corners have blind entries. My instructor for the day was Ducati’s World Superbike factory racer Chaz Davies. As I did a couple of sighting laps, I could hear Murray Walker’s voice in my ears, screaming ‘Tamburello’, ‘Tosa’, ‘Acque Minerali’, and ‘Rivazza’ as I went through these historical corners. After a few laps I was able to put together the sequence of corners and quicken my pace. After a very long time I was riding the one-up-and-five-down race gear-shift, and I had to keep reminding myself about the reverse gear-shift pattern for the first few laps.
Now it was time to see what the R was capable of and so I started using the 205 PS on tap. Once you get going from standstill, the clutch becomes redundant as it is not required for up or down shifts. As I exited the last chicane in the first gear and blasted down the start-finish straight, the front wheel came up in the air for a little while before the wheelie control kept it in check. The RPM shift lights kept coming on constantly as the bike’s rev-happy motor kept gaining revs in a hurry.
The R inspires a lot of confidence and makes you push it harder and brake deeper into the corners and makes it possible to get back on the gas simultaneously while the front brake is being released. The monocoque chassis with Öhlin’s suspension, Brembo brakes and the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres make the Panigale 1199R a great package for the racetrack.
Watch our video review of the Ducati Panigale 1199R below
