Ducati Riding Experience at BIC – Learning track etiquettes on a Panigale V4

Gallery Introduction So what’s DRE Track Days?Track Riding: Learning the basics Fighting the Beast

Introduction

It’s one of those small victories in life I would never acknowledge verbally, but it connotes real happiness: I recently went the fastest I’ve ever been on a motorcycle, without crashing, that is. No, I did not ride shotgun with a seasoned racer, nor did I suddenly acquire long-missing skills to go warp speed on public roads.

That leaves us with one other variable: a few laps of the Buddh International Circuit on Ducati’s absolutely mental Panigale V4.

First, a little background: it was Thursday night and I happened to be playing Assetto Corsa when Pratheek sent me an invite for the DRE (Ducati Riding Experience) due over the weekend. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity. However, with no prior experience putting a motorcycle to the pavement at the BIC, I was keen to learn my lines before going all out so I fired up the Xbox, hoping to get some visual run-through before the actual ride. As comical as it may sound, F1 2013 did help in getting acquainted with the flow of the track before the ‘D Day’.

So what’s DRE Track Days?

As the name suggests, DRE Track Days is all about riding on a track in a fast yet controlled manner. Raw speed aside, it’s more about exploring the limits of grip, becoming one with the motorcycle and in turn, being confident through the corners. This first ever edition of the DRE Track Days in India was led by none other than Alessandro Valia – Ducati’s chief test pilot for over a decade. He is the madman you see riding in almost every new Panigale promo video that usually leaves us all in envy.

Track Riding: Learning the basics

DRE for the media guys started with a safety briefing in one of the team buildings at the BIC. The briefing covered the usual set of rules of track riding and if you are a first timer, it is extremely crucial. It isn’t simply a formality, even though some of the information you hear may be common sense, a lot of it is critical for everyone’s safety. Getting to know the different form of flags, overtaking rules and the pit-lane speed limits would go a long way in keeping you out of trouble. With the basic safety rules covered, it was time to learn a few things about the fine art of cornering and braking from Mr. Valia himself. Corners, as we know, offer plenty of opportunities to make up time if you hit them right and the key variables in going fast around them include traction, body position and throttle control. The trick here is to be able to bring all of these factors together in one fluid motion. “Way easier said than done”, said the Italian maestro.

Although cornering techniques vary depending on the geometry of a motorcycle, there are a few basics that are common. For instance, keeping your head up and parallel to the angle of the steering is crucial, but its natural for the eyes to focus on the inside line of a corner. The other thing to stress on is to try and keep a lower centre of gravity in the corners by hanging off the motorcycle by keeping one cheek off the saddle and the elbow up and frontwards. As Alessandro rightly pointed out, a solid body position allows the bike to do what it wants and also, aids you to get into the correct hang off position through a corner.

Besides body position, a quick corner entry and exit also requires proper braking and throttle control, something that I couldn’t master in my previous motorcycle track day long time ago. Naturally, I paid extra attention to the bunch of animated slides which showed us how it’s best to do most of the braking and gear selection before entering a corner. “Try to be in the right gear so that you can focus more on throttle control” “Roll on the throttle fluidly and feather the brakes, don’t stomp the brake lever or twist the throttle unless it’s absolutely necessary” Alessandro’s voice intensified as he wrapped up the classroom session. Right. On to the track with the Panigale V4, then.

Fighting the Beast

As I fired up the V4 motor outside one of the pit boxes, I overheard a young guy say, “It sounds crazy”. That instinctively caused me to pull my visor up and say, “I know, right?” and give the throttle a good twist. We both agreed the Panigale V4 sounds absolutely brutal in a Darth Vader kind of way. Since it was my first time on a motorcycle at the BIC, I slyly put myself right in the back of the group in a bid to not break the rhythm among the fast guys. ‘Good call’ I sighed, after watching the leading pack rip through turn 1 and the long left hander that followed it. It really hammered home how there is so much to learn. Nonetheless, the first two laps went by in learning the lines and the braking points – my goal was to get comfortable on the V4, not show everyone how fast I can bin it or get stuck in the gravel pit.

By lap 3 it was beginning to look like I was getting somewhere, leaning into the corners with the V4 and opening the throttle that little bit more, little bit early. The 1103cc motor makes a scarcely believable 214bhp, most of which is focused in the mid-range and at the top end. Accelerating onto the main back straight at the BIC, I felt every single horsepower as the Panigale V4 went from amusingly scary to Saturn V rocket in a moment and with such violence I had trouble hanging on. Do not, for a second, think that the V4 lacks low-end grunt because it absolutely does not. Coming into turn 3 which is an uphill right-hander with a blind apex, also a first gear corner, but I started using second and found an arguably better drive from low revs. I also found that in the technical second-half of the track, coming from turn 6-7 chicane and onto the tricky right-hander it was easier to short-shift into third while leaner over to the right. Staying in third made it a lot easier to muscle the V4 through the corner which immediately leads to turn 9 followed by the inner parabolica.

The Panigale V4 has the best of what Ducati has to offer in terms of rider aids. I had traction control, cornering ABS, wheelie control, slide control, engine braking control and an incredibly sophisticated Sport mode keeping me out of the onsite ambulance. In fact, the electronics are so seamlessly integrated into this motorcycle that I felt more confident the faster I went. I felt more secured with this level of grunt than I ever have before.

Blazing down the long start-finish straight to lean into the sharp turn 1 right-hander, it was easy to overcook the corner and come in too hot. In the final lap I happened to do just that, in the quest to relish the experience. Heart-in-mouth, I pulled in the brake lever hard and leaned into the corner anyway. Surprise, surprise, the Panigale V4 simply devoured the corner and went around it with zero drama. Needless to say, I took it easy the rest of the lap.

That, right there, is the biggest upside really of riding in a safe and controlled environment. To be able to go fast repeatedly and experiment with braking points, corner exits and lean angles without having to worry about pedestrians or livestock. The track session at the Ducati Riding Experience allowed me to build confidence and become more in tune with a motorcycle, one as mental yet forgiving as the Panigale V4. For someone who does plenty of sport riding and enjoys occasional track days, the V4 would have your back. As for the few highly talented buggers capable of exploring the limits on the track, even this bog-standard non S version of the Panigale V4 will keep you feeling more secured than anything you probably ride at the moment.