FURTHER EVIDENCE

During this exclusive back-to-back testing with the 2021 and 2022 models, two additional testers joined the official Ducati test rider, Michele Pirro, on track. By the end of the day, one rider improved by 0.9 seconds, the other by 1.2 seconds, and Pirro by 0.5 seconds.

Pirro was on fire and set a remarkable lap of 1.39.086, which was not only 0.5 seconds faster than his effort on the 2021 Panigale but just three seconds slower than the lap-time set during race one in the highly competitive Italian Superbike Championship (1.36.147). His road-legal 2022 Panigale lap-time was good enough for a top-10 finish in Race One.

And, yes, those with a keen eye would have spotted that I was 10 seconds a lap slower than Pirro, a rider who was racing in MotoGP in 2021. Yes, I shall take that.