2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale

The 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale S is an absolute animal out on the circuit but in a very good way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s actually much easier to ride it fast than the 1198 SP that it replaces but nobody in their right mind would call the sheer heart stopping acceleration of the Panigale anything but brutal! The response from the all new 1199cc twin in the higher revs is just insane and it’s astonishingly fast. In advance I had been looking forward to the 1.2 km straight, the longest in the F1 circus. Upon having finished my second session I hated it because we tested on a windy day and it was impossible to move in a complete straight line and it wobbled up and over 200km/h and the sheer acceleration even above 250km/h created lots of pressure inside my helmet, much like in an airplane and my ears popped after riding. That’s some acceleration for you! The chassis is beautiful and I could flick the 1200cc sports bike through the s-bends like it was a 600! The amount of grip from the Pirelli Supercorsa’s we tested even with SC2 compund on the slick sides was impressive considering the amound of sand on the circuit due to the strong winds. The Brembo Monoblock brakes are equally impressive and even with EBC on the tail swaggered like a mad dog if I grabbed them hard enough! This is what I call a fun day! The ultimate motorcycle and the ultimate launch.

Ducati admitted to me that they have no idea how to ever trump this one. Yas Marina is a circuit surrounding a 5 star hotel in Abu Dhabi, we simply walked from breakfast straight to the circuit in the morning. How good is that? Definitely the most spectacular launch I have ever attended and probably the most spectacular motorcycle I have ever ridden too.

World launch test from the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Greetings from Abu Dhabi! I'm testing the Ducati 1199 Panigale S at Yas Marina and soon you'll get my first impressions, onboard video and much more! Tor Sagen

Action video

Pictures above show first Gabriele DelTorchio with Serena Autieri and Claudio Domenicale. Francesco Rapisarda then introduced the host of the night Valerio Staffelli and Ducati CEO Gabriele DelTorchio. Ducati's Superstock champ Davide Giugliano and Superbike champ Carlos Checa entered the stage for a brief interview and photo shoot. They will be team mates in the Althea Ducati team in World Superbike in 2012 on the 1098R. The 1199 Panigale will not enter the WSBK stage until 2013.

Pictures above show from left to right: Davide Giugliano, Serena Autieri and Carlos Checa at the front and Diego Sgorbati, Valerio Staffelli, Claudio Domenicale, Gabriele DelTorchio and Ernesto Marinelli at the back.

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Official Ducati 1199 Panigale video