Ducati India has showcased the 2023 Panigale V4 R race bike that powered Álvaro Bautista to his WorldSBK Championship win in 2023. The championship-winning motorcycle has been bought by a private collector in Mumbai and showcased at Ducati’s service centre in Mumbai.
The motorcycle carries a yellow livery and represents the Italian marque’s most successful runs in WorldSBK. It was ridden by Álvaro Bautista in the 2023 season with Aruba.it Racing, winning the season.
The race bike is powered by a 998cc liquid-cooled V4 engine, which is claimed to make over 235PS and hits speeds of over 315kmph, of course with all the engineering that has been put into it. The motorcycle weighs just 168kg (without water and oil) which translates to an insane power-to-weight ratio. To make things even better, it uses a dry clutch unlike a traditional clutch which runs in an oil bath.
Coming to the bodywork, being a track-focused motorcycle, the bodywork is completely made out of carbon fibre, which helps keep the weight in check while being strong enough to resist the forces it comes across in high-speed racing. Suspension duties are done by Öhlins USD forks and a Öhlins monoshock, both of which are fully-adjustable. It also has a steering damper from Öhlins. Several parts like the triple-tree clamp and footpegs for example are made out of machined billet aluminium. The hot exhaust gases are routed out via an Akrapovič 4-2 titanium exhaust system with titanium mufflers.
The alloy wheels are made of forged aluminium and have five spokes with a Y-shaped design, which are wrapped with slicks from Pirelli—a 125-section on the front and a 200-section at the rear. For superior baking performance, Ducati has opted for twin Brembo steel discs which are bitten by Brembo Monobloc calipers with fins and feature titanium pistons. The rear gets a single disc with a Brembo aluminium twin-piston caliper.
