“It sounds like Ducati,” said Former MotoGP Racer Casey Stoner After Test Riding the Panigale V4
“I didn’t really expect it to be so smooth on the power,” said Casey Stoner about the Ducati Panigale V4 after testing it. ‘It really, really impressed me.”
Stoner has long been retired ever since the conclusion of the 2012 French Grand Prix. He stated then that he no longer enjoyed competing in the series and wanted to get away from the political stress of MotoGP. The largest contributing factor, however, is surely his desire to spend more time with his family and in an interview in 2014 said that he was enjoying his life away from the sport and had no regrets aout his decision to retire.
The 32-year-old is now a test rider for Ducati and was able to test the much-anticipated Panigale V4.
But just because the rest of the world is salivating over this bike and it specs, Stoner is harder to impress as someone someone who came from the world of MotoGP where “you have extreme amounts of power”. He did say that the V4’s power “made a big difference” to him.
“The 1299 for me is already a fantastic bike. But the difference in power for me with this [Panigale V4] was a lot more,” explained Stoner in an official Ducati video.
“Also, the balance, the way to go into the corner was a lot more settled and a lot more calm.“From this bike and with the street tires that I was running, I was very, very impressed and surprised.
“The bike wanted to wheelie everywhere. It wants to really go. So I had to be more cautious on the throttle than normal. But yet as soon as I started to become comfortable and trust the system a little bit more, then I could start to open a lot more. You felt at the end of this rate a lot more speed than what I’m used to.”
He seemed also impressed with the similarities between his MotoGP bike and the V4 as he said, “The fact that I can adjust everything on the computer and put it where I want to, it really gave me a feeling very, very similar to my MotoGP bike, especially on the throttle and wheelie control.
“The traction control was very, very smooth and not overriding the system too much. I think this is what allows the bike to really be through the power and find a lot more grip, be a lot more calm getting to the next corner.”