The new Panigale V4 R is currently being developed to enter its first full season in a world championship, in this case the World Superbike championship. Ducati has their eyes set on bringing back the championship to Bologna after Aprilia and recently Kawasaki dominating the series, and the V4 R might just be able to bring back Ducati to the top.
But there are some race fans that want Ducati to show what they can do in another level, the FIM Endurance World Championship.
The old twin-cylinder Panigale made some appearances in the FIM EWC, but only as a private project and Ducati factory had nothing to do with it, so the results weren’t the ones that the Ducatisti expect to see.
Now, with a V4 engine, Ducati has a motorcycle that can compete in equal terms with the likes of Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and BMW Motorrad, regular front runners in the FIM EWC.
So, during the recent tests in Jerez, journalists tried to obtain from Ducati Corse manager Luigi Dall’Igna a reaction to the rumors that the Italian factory would begin a factory project to compete in the most important endurance championship in the world, and Dall’Igna had this to say
“Endurance is a race series that is very important to us. But we’re trying to win again in Superbike, and in the meantime, we are interested in Endurance racing”.
Dall’Igna’s words seem to point to Ducati thinking about a factory team for endurance, but for now all efforts are concentrated in MotoGP and World Superbike, and with Ducati Corse resources stretched thin between these two projects, there’s no room to enter another race series as a factory team.
But with the FIM Endurance World Championship gaining so much visibility in the last seasons, getting more TV coverage and more factories being involved in the teams, and with special events like the Suzuka 8 Hours race being such an important battlefield for brands to show they are the best, it’s quite possible that in the near future we start hearing about Ducati developing a Panigale V4 R in endurance specs.
And that would be a very nice addition to the FIM EWC!