Ducati’s Claudio Domenicali officially laid to rest any rumours regarding a Ducati four-cylinder World Superbike motorcycle.
There have been a lot of rumours in the World Superbike Championship paddock referring to Ducati building a four-cylinder machine. Talking to MCN, Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, officially quashed any rumours of a four-cylinder superbike replacing the 1299 Panigale. Starting a couple of weeks ago, the rumours said that Ducati was going to drop the Superquadro 1299 Panigale V-twin in favor of a four-cylinder engine to gain racing and sales success.
As far as sales go, the Borgo Panigale firm is not doing so bad. Ducati achieved a 22% growth in sales in the first six months of 2015 reaching a mile stone of 32,600 bikes delivered to their customers. In the World Superbike Championship, Ducati lost the title, but in the last three rounds managed to clinch four wins out of six thanks to the likes of Chaz Davies.
Talking to MCN, Claudio Domenicali said: “No. There will not be a replacement of this kind in 2017 as these rumours have suggested. I can confirm there is no officially confirmed project at Ducati for a four-cylinder engine to replace the Panigale V-twin. There is no Ducati four-cylinder superbike planned”.