We’ve known Ducati has had a new flagship superbike in the works for a few months now. The 1103cc Panigale V4 S was unveiled at World Ducati Week back in July, and a sub-1000cc version to meet race regulations was always in the offing, as the Italian company aims to give its factory riders the best possible opportunity of success in superbike racing around the world. Now the covers have come off their masterpiece, and it’s a real work of art.

The Panigale V4 R is, of course, a technological tour de force, with a 218bhp engine in road trim, cutting edge electronics, top line components and, in a world first, a proper race style gearbox which places neutral at the bottom of the shift pattern rather than between first and second gear, as is usual on production machines.

As expected, the R follows the S in replacing the outgoing model’s single sided swingarm in favour of a more traditional double spar set up, which should provide racers with more edge grip, one of the few criticisms levelled at the current model.

The spec sheet is staggering, with nothing held back. A claimed 198mph top speed makes it a challenger for the title of ‘world’s fastest production motorcycle’ as standard, while junking the Euro5+ spec exhaust in favour of a race item, and filling up with some special race formulated engine oil, unlocks another 21bhp and takes the top speed up to a mindblowing 205mph. It’s real Top Trumps stuff, but also the kind of thing you’d expect from Ducati’s top model.

As well as more peak power, Ducati says the engine delivers an average of 4bhp more throughout the meat of the rev range. It’s probably not particularly noticeable on the road, but likely significant in its natural environment on the track.

And the track is where you feel the Panigale was born. Marc Marquez is wiping the floor with the competition on his Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP racer, and you can see the influence of that bike on this latest Panigale. The ground effect sidepods, a feature of Ducati’s MotoGP racers for the past four seasons, and the aerodynamic wings, said to give 25% more downforce for better stability, come from developments through the race programme.

The gearbox too, as mentioned before, is a proper racing item and the patented Ducati Neutral Lock system eliminates the possibility of engaging false neutrals while going down the gearbox. Because it is locked out, riders have to press a button in order to engage neutral - just like the pro racers!  

The frame too, although not dissimilar in look to the previous model, is completely modified and has actually been designed to offer significantly less lateral stiffness. The changes to the frame come as a direct result of feedback from the factory WorldSBK team and is said to be optimised to get the maximum performance from the latest generation of Pirelli slick tyres used in the championship.

The swingarm pivot is also adjustable, again with racing in mind, while stock suspension comes from Öhlins all round and debuts the Swedish company’s latest design of steering damper. For brakes, Brembo has also donated its top-of-the-line Hypure stoppers.

Frankly you could write a book about all the technology and rider aids you can find on the 2025 Ducati Panigale V4 R but, needless to say, it has everything you can think of.

Price comes in at £38,995 in street trim, a number also largely dictated by racing because this is the maximum price allowed in order for the machine to be homologated for use in superbike competition. Despite the hefty price tag, we expect there will be a large line of Ducatisti happy to shell out and add one to their collection.

It’ll also form the basis of the factory WorldSBK racers which will be campaigned by Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona, as well as an increasing number of teams in the British Superbike Championship. It truly is a bike born from the race track, for the race track, and even though superbikes are no longer sold in the numbers they once were, exotic Ducatis still have plenty of poster appeal. If you want one, they should start arriving in dealerships from November.

The launch of the Panigale V4 R comes a few weeks after Ducati unveiled limited edition ‘RS’ versions of the more practical Diavel power cruiser and Multistrada V4 adventure bike. The duo use the mighty V4 Stradale motor shared with the Panigale V4 S and are lighter and built to a higher specification than the models on which they are based. We’re expecting a few more new model launches from Ducati in October, with the distinct possibility of an all-new machine being unveiled at Milan’s EICMA motorcycle show on November 4.