BAYLISS BLING
2021 DUCATI PANIGALE V2 TROY BAYLISS 1ST CHAMPIONSHIP 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Time flies when you’re having fun, and we’ve had a lot of fun over the past couple of decades. But even so, we found it pretty hard to believe it’s really 20 years since that top Aussie racer-bloke took his first WSBK title, after an uber-thrilling battle with Colin Edwards on his Honda SP-2.
There’s no arguing with the calendar though. Or this – the Ducati Panigale V2 Troy Bayliss 1st Championship 20th Anniversary Edition. The name isn’t so much a mouthful as a 10-course banquet, but you get the idea – it’s a fancy edition of the Panigale V2 to celebrate two decades since the first of Troy’s three world titles.
He won that title on a factory race version of the 996R superbike – the 996R F01. On paper, the ‘road’ version made about 136bhp claimed as stock, and while the WSB tuners would obviously have woven a lot of magic, his title-winning 996 probably didn’t have much more – if any – power than the Panigale V2’s 155bhp. The 955cc motor on this special edition bike is stock, and the mods limited to a slightly fancier carbon/titanium silencer cover. The chassis has had a good seeing to though, with a set of Öhlins NX30 fully adjustable forks up front and a TTX36 rear monoshock, plus Öhlins steering damper. And it’s lost 3kg over stock thanks to a lithium battery and a single-seat unit.
The cosmetics are the most obvious upgrade, of course; the special paint job incorporates Bayliss’s #21 race plate, the Shell sponsor’s logo, and the red/white/ green of the Italian flag. Troy’s signature is lacquered over on the tank alongside the dates of his three titles, there’s a numbered plate on the top yoke, and the single seat is also a specially embroidered design.
So, posh paint, slick suspension and a sweet seat – a tempting package indeed, without going crazy. And the price is very decent too; £17,995 is very competitive for a limited edition factory Ducati special. It’s not clear what the numbers will be limited to, but we reckon Ducati will sell all it can get onto the dealers’ floors. Deliveries start in October. More info at www.ducati.com