The previous four seasons of the World Cup Superbike were dominated by Kawasaki with Jonathan Rea donning the victories and other titles like others the pearls. No one during this reign found fault with the ZX-10R. Then came this 2019 financial year where Ducati arrived with a Panigale V4R and a Alvaro Bautista above. A couple who turned everything upside down to impose a new hierarchy. A change which annoyed outdated competition which blacklisted the red machine. A stigma that annoys a person to the highest degree Paolo ciabatti who puts things back in order...
The Panigale V4 R, which has barely arrived in the WSBK championship, largely dominates its subject and brought to heel a Ninja who, until then, had not let himself be counted on. A turnaround that rumor has put down to an Italian motorcycle betraying the spirit of the regulations and even the philosophy of the category. While forgetting the fact that alone Alvaro Bautista managed to make her win. Criticisms intense enough to open a debate on restrictions to be made on this model inspired by MotoGP.
A stigma that has the gift of pissing off the Ducati sporting director Paolo ciabatti who, in an interview with speedweek, wanted to present the subject from another angle… And he starts strong: “ opponents complain because they were used to winning and they don't anymore. Although Imola was a different story. I can't understand all the arguments against our bike, the rules are the rules. We stay within the cost cap and produce far more motorcycles than needed for homologation – and we sell them ».
« Our philosophy for the World Superbike Championship has not changed. We always had hypersport production models, and a year later we brought the R version, which was as extreme as possible in some aspects. Today, we do it no differently – and rules are rules. We operate within the rules, the philosophy of the championship. It's funny that everyone is talking about it now, but no one complained for four years about Kawasaki's dominance » fumes the Italian.
« We are happy to build a better motorcycle than Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda. Our goal is always to build the best sports bike possible and that's what we want to prove at the World Superbike Championship. »Assures Ciabatta. “ Every year, Kawasaki homologates a new motorcycle specially designed for the Superbike World Championship. The fact is that Ducati didn't build a special motorcycle just for homologation. It was different before. How many Yamaha R7s have been sold? As much as necessary for approval. The Panigale V4 R is the best sports bike in the Ducati catalog, but no limited edition. We sell as much as our customers want. Fortunately for Ducati, demand is greater than our current production capacity ».
So much for the machine. And here are the sports results: “ without Álvaro Bautista, how many races would Jonathan Rea win in a row? 21? Nobody would complain about Kawasaki, nobody would say Jonathan Rea is an exceptional rider – which he is. But maybe there is another one, which is better. These are the facts. It's not like we're first and second in every race. Chaz Davies is one of the best drivers, but he hasn't won a race this year ».
He ends his demonstration thus: “ if we exclude Bautista, all these claims are false. Without Bautista, we wouldn't have won a race. Some people have forgotten that. This is why I find it annoying that some manufacturers constantly complain about our motorcycle ».
