Ducati’s Davide Giugliano was quickest at Jerez test
After two days of testing at Jerez, several WSB pilots, and teams, broke their personal records at the circuit. Leading the way was Ducati’s Davide Giugliano, who absolutely scorched the track with a 1m 39.332s lap.
The newly homologated Ducati Panigale R, with more horsepower and revised chassis (steeper steering head and relocated swingarm pivot) was simply brilliant. For some perspective on Giugliano’s best lap, it was roughly a second quicker than Loris Baz set while taking WSB pole at the circuit last year and, get this, only slightly more than a second slower than the pole lap of MotoGP champ Marc Marquez (1m 38.120s) last year.
The factory Kawasakis were quick (no surprise), while the Erik Buell Racing 1190RX squad finished at the bottom of the timesheets, once again. In fairness, the time set by new Team Hero EBR rider Niccolo Canepa was far more competitive than the team could manage at the start of last season.
At least at Jerez, this proves that the well-sorted superbikes are getting closer to MotoGP pace. This could be a big year for Ducati in the series.
1. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 39.332s
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 39.694s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 39.745s
4. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 40.062s
5. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 40.069s
6. Alex Lowes GBR Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 40.159s
7. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 40.590s
8. Nico Terol ESP Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 40.765s
9. Randy de Puniet FRA Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 40.977s
10. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 41.412s
11. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 41.983s
12. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 42.004s
13. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 42.184s
14. Tati Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 42.577s
15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 42.743s
16. Larry Pegram USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 46.996s
17. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR No Time
I sure miss Yamaha.
Pointing out that EBR is near the bottom of the results may not be reflective of the bike itself. Pegram is near the end of his career and Canepa does not boast an A-list resume. Add the lack of development cycles for EBR/Hero and it becomes obvious that they should be at the bottom. Pegram is likely there as a testing advisor and if he stays with EBR he will likely move into the paddock. The trick is to get another year or two of development with satellite-level talent then open up Hero’s wallet to attract an A-list rider or two.
All that plus the EBR lacks the electronics packages that the other manufacturers have. Lots against them in the race against time. The KTM RC8 is in the same boat. But the purely mechanical abilities of the chassis are pretty stellar for both bikes. They just need those extra aids to be in the same league.
Not a bad start to the company though. This is a much different ballgame than racing the HD lump in Pro-Thunder. But man, those races sounded amazing to the ears.
Canepas 1m42.7 shows a very close shot a a top 10 on this practice day. Which is way better than last year. We’ll see.
Ducati WSBK is FASTER than a Ducati MotoGP bike? or at least in ball park.
great that ducati is competitive in WSBK again but I don’t see either riders as championship contenders may be Chaz can put it together.
And, i really wish Ducati takes out ads in all papers saying sorry to Stoner and begs him to come back. they have no chance winning with other Andreas
I don’t doubt that Stoner has more advanced skills than Dovizioso or Iannone but the tire spec has changed from when Casey last rode the Ducati and I doubt that they’d win even with him on board.
Ducati may be a small company but it doesn’t hurt when you are part of the Volkswagen/Audi/Lamborghini group.
touche…
I wonder who will benefit the first from Ducati engineering…
Ducatistas aside, is the average life of a Ducati comparable to say the CBR1000RR or the S1000R? if so Italy can be proud about more than their womens…. (mama mia…)
re: “is the average life of a Ducati comparable to say the CBR1000RR or the S1000R?”
sure, so long as you understand every form of transportation made by man (bar-none) requires maintenance, you’re good.
You NG the guy who love the clunking sound of Ducati air clutches are the definition of Ducatista….
Still good to know it’s not only powerful but reliable.
re: “NG the guy”
the Man.
re: “Ducati air clutches”
DRY clutches, though the lever does sometime feel like it’s got air in it. lol
re: “the definition of Ducatista”
Ducatisti and racing. ironic that Marc’s Honda 213, Jay’s Yamaha M1 and even a Suzuki GSXR 750 limited from 1986 all have dry clutches EXCEPT for the modern Ducati.
http://youtu.be/QVGOo60s7qc?t=27s
They’ll both last as long as the rider stays sane. How many superbikes are really worn out by riding long miles? Very few…
I wonder what they attribute their previous success to?
Impressive… for such a small company to come with a product that it’s so close to all-powerful HRC team.
I wonder how much Ducati loose on each Panigale R on the street, similar to the 75k honda loose on each Rune it sail away from dealers…
Indeed. While it does have 200cc more displacement, this hints that it has more potential then Ducati’s own motoGP bike!
We need to stop focusing on static displacement and start focusing on the amount of air pumped through the engine per minute at redline.
A 1000cc I4 spinning at a 14,000 RPM red line is moving 6% more fuel and air through than a 1200cc V-twin spinning at an 11,000 RPM red line (assuming the same efficiency for both engines). Therefore, in a perfect world, the I4 would be 6% more powerful, assuming both were equally good at turning fuel and air into horsepower.
As a motorcyclist, I want the best engine. That’s not something determined by displacement. It’s about torque curves, weight, width, weight distribution, reliability, etc. I’m not going to get to my destination on my sport bike and suddenly discover that the engine is going to be torn down for an inspection of the bore and stroke.
That would be a fair comparison if both engines ran at constant redline speed for the duration of the race but there’s a ton of variables that come into play. The Ducati’s have always enjoyed a displacement advantage (based on the same argument you provide).They have also done a good job of exploiting the advantages that come with it, while mitigating the disadvantages. I’d bet my bikes that this bike is further down on HP to their own GP bike than the ~1sec. lap-time difference would indicate.
Besides, the best engine for a street rider is almost never the one with the most peak hp in class.
re: “the disadvantages”
whoa whoa, disadvantages…? how dare you suggest there even exists such a thing. if they exist…? then anyone with gall enough to breech the “advantage” topic going forward would be forced to acknowledge (subtract) them from their reasoning. how DARE you sir…!!!
But wasn’t it you Yanks that coined the “no replacement for displacement” phrase? =P