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Ducati is offering a limited-edition Panigale V2 Superquadro Final Edition. But that raises an obvious question: If this is the end of the line, what comes next? The answer may matter more on the race track than on the street or in Ducati showrooms.
But before we get into that, at the risk of contributing to what may be some limited special edition fatigue among Common Tread readers, let's take a look at the V2 Final Edition.
A numbered series of 555 Final Editions will be produced and will be available in December for a price of $28,000, a premium of more than $9,000 over the regular 2024 V2. The Final Edition gets a special livery, naturally, designed by Drudi Performance and the Ducati Style Centre, with the predictable red, white, and black colors contrasting with a matte gray fuel tank. Apparently, even fast and racy Italian bikes have to incorporate at least some drab gray under the prevailing fads of our time.
The Final Edition also gets Öhlins suspension front and rear instead of the Showa fork and Sachs shock on the regular V2. It also comes with a kit for prepping it for use on the track, including a GPS module for data acquisition.
Beyond the special paint and the number on the top triple clamp, you get the same already-high-spec equipment that comes on the Panigale V2, such as the Brembo brakes and various carbon fiber parts. A full suite of electronic rider aids powered by a six-axis inertial measurement unit lets the rider adjust cornering ABS, traction control, wheelie control, engine braking, and the quickshifter.
Of course the purpose of the Final Edition is to provide a proper send-off to the Superquadro V-twin desmo engine, so named because of its oversquare bore and stroke. There was a time, not so long ago, when Ducati was synonymous with V-twins with desmodromic valve actuation, and Ducati traces the lineage of the V2's engine as far back as iconic sport bikes such as the 748. But the first use of the Superquadro name was in 2011 when the 1199 Panigale was introduced. Smaller displacement versions followed.
Today, with Ducati's Desmosedici hogging most of the headlines with its dominance in MotoGP, V-four engines have become just as closely associated with Ducati. Gone are the days when all Ducatis came with a V-twin.
So what are you going to race when the Final Edition is gone?
Arguably, the Panigale V2 has been even more important on the race track than in the showrooms. It has been a major force in the Next Generation Supersport class. The Next Gen rules, which took effect in 2022 in World Supersport, MotoAmerica, and elsewhere, use balancing formulas to allow other bikes to compete with the 600 cc inline-four-cylinder machines that used to rule the class (and made it somewhat homogenous). Now, we have the more interesting spectacle of 955 cc Panigale V2s racing against Suzuki GSX-R750s, Triumph and MV Agusta triples, and of course the traditional class leader, the Yamaha YZF-R6.
Nicolò Bulega won the 2023 World Supersport title on a Panigale V2. In MotoAmerica, Josh Herrin won the Supersport title in 2022 and Xavi Forés won last year, both on a Panigale V2. This season, Adrián Huertas is leading World Supersport on a V2 and in MotoAmerica P.J. Jacobsen, on a Ducati, is in a two-way battle with Mathew Scholtz on an old-school R6 for the Supersport title.
All of which leads to the question: What's the next Supersport racing platform for Ducati if this is the end of the V2? It's already a topic of discussion in the race paddock. Given the ownership's business ties to Ducati, a team like Rahal Ducati Moto, which currently fields three V2s in MotoAmerica Supersport, is not going to switch to another brand and Ducati does not have another bike ready to race in the class. The Ducati SuperSport 950 is lower spec and makes 45 fewer horsepower in stock form than the Panigale V2, making it not an appropriate platform for Supersport racing, despite its name. Does Ducati have another model coming to replace the V2 in Supersport? Or would the company abandon a class where it has found so much success, both at the national and international levels?
A spokesman for Ducati North America wouldn't elaborate except to say that "racing remains a core pillar of the Ducati brand story."
This may be the Final Edition but it's not the final word on Ducati and Supersport racing.
