#ducati

Carlin Dunne has died after crashing just before the finish line of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The racer, actor and stuntman was attempting to set a new record in the Hill Climb on a prototype Ducati Streetfighter V4. Through the first three sections of the course, Dunne was well on his way towards setting the record, but a big bump in the road near the finish line caused the front wheel of the Streetfighter V4 prototype to wash out from under him, ending in the disastrous result.

If you type in “Ducati Panigale V4 R Review” in Google, you’ll notice not many publications have gotten their hands on one – including us. Ducati’s been very selective about who gets to ride the pinnacle Panigale, and we’ve been told, for 2019 anyway, Ducati won’t have a single V4 R in its US press fleet. Meaning we won’t get to ride the bike that forms the base upon which Alvaro Bautista has been dominating World Superbike.

Despite the fact Ducati has hit it big with the Panigale V4R this year, racking up numerous World Superbike victories with Alvaro Bautista (and, let’s be honest, likely the 2019 WSBK title), it appears as though Ducati isn’t done with the Panigale V4, as these spy photos Motorcycle.com has received would indicate.

This article originally appeared on Late-Braking MotoGP.

Marc Marquez was probably going to win the Catalan GP anyway. But once Repsol Honda teammate Jorge “El Gato” Lorenzo skittled Ducati‘s Andrea Dovizioso and both factory Yamaha riders out of the proceedings on Lap 2, it was done and dusted in Barcelona. The Catalan’s lead in the world championship ballooned from 12 to 37 points. Valencia is groaning, joined by most of the rest of the motorcycle racing world. Here we go again.

Ducati confirmed a naked version of the Panigale V4 is on the way for 2020, announcing a prototype of the Streetfighter V4 will be entered in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb later this month. Carlin Dunne, who previously won the PPIHC motorcycle class on a Multistrada, will be riding the Ducati Streetfighter V4 prototype in the June 30 race.

This article originally appeared on Late-Braking MotoGP.

If you’re into motorcycle racing – and why else would you be here reading this drivel? – today’s Italian Grand Prix was a work of art. 28-year old Danilo Petrucci, who six years ago was flogging something called an Ioda, fought off Honda wonderkid Marc Marquez and factory Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso for his maiden MotoGP win. The 83,000 frenzied fans saw 23 laps of knife fighting at close quarters in what must be the feel good moment of the 2019 MotoGP season.

The MotoGP world, turned on its ear by qualifying on Saturday, was put back in its proper order today in Jerez by the incandescent Marc Marquez, who led wire-to-wire. The Petronas Yamaha SRT team, which spent Saturday night in the penthouse, ended Sunday in the outhouse. Rising Suzuki star Alex Rins took second, and Maverick Viñales found the podium for the first time since Buriram 2018. Four riders were separated by nine points heading to Jerez; four riders remain separated by nine points heading to Le Mans. Life is good.

Chances are, the beating heart of your Ducati and, for that matter, every other desmo you’ve seen out on the road, was assembled, at least in part, by women. Women make up 14% of Ducati’s production line in the Borgo Panigale facility. The vast majority of that number is stationed on the engine assembly line, putting together the most crucial components of any Ducati motorcycle.

Want to see the 2019 Grand Prix of the Americas in person?
Tickets are available online at CircuitOfTheAmericas.com.

The 2019 Argentine Grand Prix produced another dominant display by Repsol Honda prodigy Marc Marquez. A benevolent dictator, Marquez allows the other MotoGP riders to follow him around these tracks, not bothering to charge for lessons. Today’s easy win at Rio Hondo was the Catalan’s third in Argentina, putting him on top of the championship standings and bringing a sense of foreshadowing to the rest of the grid.

Jet lag is the price I pay for some good parts of life, like flying to Spain’s Costa del Sol to ride Ducati’s pretty-much-all-new Diavel 1260S. And it was a very good part, because Spain has very good roads, and the Diavel 1260S is a very good motorcycle.

At first blush, the upgrades for the base 2019 Ducati Multistrada 950 were mostly centered around the 6-axis Bosch IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), translating into better traction control and cornering ABS, but Ducatisti in the United States don’t have the option of buying that plain Jane Multistrada 950. Instead, Americans are forced to enjoy the premium componentry and electronic upgrades of the Multistrada 950 S. Oh how will we ever endure the slings and arrows of Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS) continuously adjusting the damping while Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) renders the clutch obsolete after you pull away from a start? After riding the 2019 Ducati Multistrada 950 S for a couple hundred miles of the twistiest Spanish tarmac I’ve had the privilege of sampling, I can answer with certainty that the North American market will get along just fine.

Ducati North America CEO Jason Chinnock has a lot to say, and given the chance, he’s more than happy to say it. With this in mind, rewind your clocks a bit to November 2018 and the first stop of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California. The show itself came on the heels of EICMA, where most of the major product unveilings for 2019 were displayed for a worldwide audience. Long Beach was the first crack North American audiences would have at seeing the 2019 moto-porn in person. Motorcycle.com was there, and we brought you some sights and sounds that caught our eye.