This awesome-looking beast is the new Panigale V4 SP2 from Ducati.
Entirely street legal, this bike is heavily geared towards track use.
In fact, the Italian outfit describes it as the “ultimate racetrack machine”.
The Panigale family has always been Ducati’s flagship and this latest incarnation has to be the ultimate so far.
It’s based around the incredible 1103cc Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine, which is directly derived from the firm’s MotoGP bikes.
It churns out a whopping 215.5bhp at 13,000rpm - and increase of 1.5bhp on the 2021 V4.
And if even that’s not enough for you, you can fit an after-market full-titanium Akrapovic exhaust, which will boost the power to 228bhp, with a maximum torque of 96.6 ft lb.
Ducati’s technical boffins have done everything they can to reduce mass and have managed to achieve a hugely impressive dry weight of just 173kg.
Key to that are a pair of gorgeous carbon fibre wheels, a carbon mudguard, carbon wings and adjustable Rizoma footpegs in anodised aluminium, with carbon heel guards.
The engineers have even used a World Superbike 520 chain, saving a few more grams.
The chassis is aluminium and the swingarm and seat post, also aluminium, are directly connected to the engine.
Suspension is via electronically controlled Ohlins forks and Ohlins rear shock, plus an Ohlins electronic steering damper.
Braking employs Brembo Stylema R front calipers and an MCS radial master cylinder.
The brake and clutch levers are milled at the ends to reduce air resistance.
As you’d expect, there’s a full electronics package, including four riding modes, with plenty of customisation options, and everything displayed on a colour TFT dash.
A GPS module allows you to track and analyse all your performance data.
The bike comes in what Ducati calls its “winter test” livery, which is majority matt black, with red highlights and a Corse logo.
For track days, the V4 SP2 comes with a kit including aluminium caps so you can remove the mirrors and licence plate holder, and an open carbon clutch cover – so you can really appreciate the rattle of the dry clutch.
The Panigale V4 SP2 comes in a numbered series and will set you back an eye-watering £34,295.
Meanwhile, Ducati announced record worldwide sales of 59,447 units in 2021 – an increase of 24% over the previous year.
The Bologna-based manufacturer also posted a record turnover of £738million and a record operating profit of £51million.
CEO Claudio Domenicali told MirrorMotorcycling he wanted to thank employees, dealers and the “Ducatisti” for their “passion and commitment”.
Browse more than 19,000 new and used bikes for sale at Autotrader.co.uk/bikes
