I don’t know who’s in charge over at Ducati, but letting a bunch of journalists ride its factory Superbikes at Imola, barely a third of the way into the World Superbike season, seems crazy. We may know our way around a keyboard, but a sixth-gear kink is a totally different thing. Nevertheless, two days after watching WSBK action at the same track, I had the dream assignment—testing the brand-new Panigale R production bike and then sampling Chaz Davies’ actual aruba.it Racing Panigale R racebike. Even ballsier than allowing this mid-season journo test in the first place (which took place just two weeks before Donington Park), was doing it at Imola. The track may not be as technical as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, or Portimao, but it’s not too far behind; with its blind crests, tight chicanes, and changes of direction, it must have been penned by a designer without a straight edge. With new World Superbike rules mandating strict limitations on modifications to the production bikes the Superbikes are based on, the street and race bikes have been closer in spec than they are in 2015. Engines must use the stock homologated cases, crankshaft (with limits on balancing and treatments), stock pistons, while the connecting rods are also subject to strict regulations. Same goes for the cylinder heads, which can be ported, but that’s about it. Teams can choose only one set of internal transmission ratios for the entire season. To carry the allowed 24 liters of fuel, the team modifies the tank, which extends under the seat. Larger radiators are utilized, while the fuel-injection system gets a few mods for better performance. 
Another key change are the restrictions placed on engine electronics. A price cap of 8,000 euros for the ECU and sensors has been mandated, and the teams are limited to 29 total sensors. The aruba.it Racing team uses a Magneti Marelli MLE ECU. For 2015, the teams are limited to seven sealed engines per rider for the season. Because of this, I can guarantee we were testing with engines at the end of their duty cycle. Chassis modifications are similar to before. The team uses a slightly longer swingarm and has a variety of linkage options. Out back is an Öhlins RSP40 shock, while a 42mm RSP25 fork is held by adjustable triple clamps that allow changes to head angle and offset. Lighter forged aluminum wheels, Brembo racing brakes with 4 x 30-34 front calipers bite either 328 or 336mm discs, while a two-piston caliper bites a 230mm disc out back. With four sessions on the production Panigale R under my belt, I was as ready as I could be for my session on Davies’ machine. Thinking ahead, I had run a race gearshift pattern on the production bike all morning, so accidently back-shifting the Superbike wasn’t going to be an issue. After a short briefing with the crew and some pointers from Davies, I was ready to roll. His main advice: “Make sure you take it all the way to redline and wait for the shift lights to come on. That last couple thousand rpm is where it gets nasty.” Okay, thanks for that, mate... 
My warm-up lap was spent getting familiar with the bike’s chassis, which was way firmer than the production machine’s. I immediately noticed how much higher the seat and rear-set pegs were, while the larger windscreen enveloped me in a nice cocoon of still air. Fortunately, the former Daytona 200 winner is 6-feet-tall, meaning that his bike suited my 5-foot-11 frame about perfectly. Another key difference: The race bike was geared much taller than the standard bike, so I would be using first gear through all of the chicanes, which I hadn’t used that much in the morning. With Chaz’s suggested gears for each corner in my head, I started my first flying lap. It didn’t take but a few seconds for things to get exciting. I heeded his advice and wound the engine out to the shift lights in the first four gears as I headed to the Turn-1 kink. Holy crap! If that wasn’t exhilarating enough, a huge power-induced high-speed weave certainly was, flapping the bars as I headed for the first esses and causing me to go deeper into the braking zone than I had gone all day. A few smooth squeezes of the front brake lever had the rear tire leaving the tarmac and my heart jumping out of my chest as I committed to the corner deep and off line (it’s on slicks, what could go wrong?). Sure enough, the tires bit and the bike glided through as if taunting me: Is this all you’ve got? Chaz later told me that I now knew what I needed to do every lap... 
Thanks, but I’ll save that for another life. As my laps progressed, I was blown away by the bike’s sheer power, and how composed the electronics made the delivery. Despite the aggressive and instantaneous throttle response, the race bike was much easier to control with the throttle than I predicted. At Imola, wheelie control is key; without it, the bike would try to do 12-o’clock wheelies heading over Turn 8’s blind crest and heading up the hill from Acque Minerale to the Variante Alta chicane. One of the fastest sections at Imola starts at the exit of Variante Alta as you head downhill into Rivazza. Chaz instructed me to carry fifth gear though here, which I tried, only to scare the crap out of myself again as the bike bucked and weaved under power. He later told me that he had to set the bike up very steep with a shorter wheelbase to get through Imola’s chicanes quickly for competitive lap times, knowing that he would deal with the instability. Well, what works great for a world champion was a real handful for this desk jockey! As I clicked off my last couple of laps, I concentrated on the qualities of the bike that allow factory riders to get the most out of these machines. The production Panigale R Superbike isn’t lacking horsepower, but I can’t even begin to imagine how Davies is able to wrestle with his machine over race distance. During the WSBK race at Imola, both factory Ducati riders were visibly working harder than their competition, and Davies unfortunately suffered two DNFs (an electrical issue and an oil leak). But, as Chaz proved earlier in the season at Aragon, the Ducati Panigale R I just had the pleasure of riding is a proven race winner. 
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