EICMA 2012 - Ducati Panigale 1199R 2013

The Panigale was one of the most manic superbikes we'd ever seen and now Ducati has gone ahead and bettered this awesomely amazing super bike with an 'R' version. The engine management mapping and ride-by-wire are the same as the other versions of the 2013 edition of the bike, but the R gets titanium connecting rods, a lighter crankshaft flywheel and low friction coated rocker arms. The engine management on the R allow the bike to rev 500rpm higher, hitting 12,000rpm.

The R also gets a taller flyscreen apart from a full Termignoni exhaust system and lower gearing to improve acceleration (seriously?). Oh, and the ECU can be remapped just for the race track too. There's more carbon fibre too - the rear tyre hugger, swingarm protectors, rear suspension guard, heel guards, ignition switch surround, inner panels on the top fairing and clutch cover are all carbon fibre bits, helping this lean mean machine lose some more weight. We can't wait for the Panigale to debut in the 2013 World Superbike Championship!