Track review: Ducati Panigale V2

Sure, over 200bhp can lead to an incredible amount of fun in the right hands, but it’s not always necessary. Sometimes it’s nice to be the boss of the bike, rather than having the bike be the boss of you, and that can be a serious reality where some of our British tracks are concerned, without even thinking about throwing inclement weather into the mix as well. You’ll find a lot of track riders would actually benefit from having less power than they think they do; learning to hone their skills without being able to rely on having a bucketload of power to assist their lap times, while also not having too much that it scares the living daylights at every opportunity. And that is exactly where the V2 performs so well with a beautiful chassis, a plethora of riding aids, some high-spec components and an engine that oozes both an abundance of torque and power, all combined with a dosage of exotica.

Which is exactly why we took the 2022 Panigale V2 on track at one of Ducati’s excellent track days. From the very first outing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, I instantly felt not just comfortable on the Panigale V2, but the boss of it too. Even though it wasn’t a particularly warm day, the Pirelli Diablo Rosso rubber (although not the highest performance option in the range) got up to temperature quickly and within just a couple of laps I had my knee scraping on the deck with a serious amount of confidence. This is not just because of the excellent chassis and suspension combination, which makes finding apexes a doddle, but because the baby Panigale just seems to effortlessly inspire loads of feeling through the front end especially, being agile and precise at trackday speeds. You’ve also got the power to stop too, with those powerful Brembos giving bucketloads of power and feel through the lever, which ultimately means that you really can keep on pushing your braking markers and indeed your own limits.

This is only helped by the plethora of riding aids in the V2’s arsenal, lifted from the range topping V4s, which cover you all the way into a corner, and out of it too, when the lovely V-twin engine comes into its own. Thanks to the configuration you can usually get away with being a gear higher and experimenting a bit without bogging down too much, and although the 770 metre long Hangar straight does take a little longer than on a full-blooded litre machine, it is by no means boring. If you want to be keeping with the bigger capacity fours, you really have to work for it – which is a seriously rewarding feeling.

Saying that, having raced one of these in the Ducati TriOptions Cup, which was a support series to the British Superbike Championship, there are a few modifications that really will benefit the V2 (and indeed pretty much every other sportsbikes) if heavy track riding really is your thing. A set of track fairings is a good place to start as it will make you feel more comfortable in case the worst was ever to happen, alongside some crash protection, a sticky set of track-focussed tyres, with tire warmers. Then you can go as far as you like; in an ideal world it would be suspension, a full exhaust system and some better brake pads and oil, alongside a set of rearsets too. But these are all just optional extras; just be warned that when buying a bike for the track, things can get easily addictive!

Conclusion
Overall, there’s no denying that Ducati’s Panigale V2 is a mighty tool, which will look after just about every level of rider. Not only does it look absolutely stunning, but it performs far better than it’s ‘small Panigale’ reputation suggest – it’s still a potent sportsbike, but with slightly softer edges, making it a great proposition for the tighter and twistier tracks we have here.

Check out our Ducati Panigale V2 inventory and get a cool deal.