Ducati’s MotoE racer: The V21L

Last month we told you that Ducati will be the sole supplier of bikes for the MotoE World Championship from 2023 – but following the bike being tested at Misano, we’ve now got a bit more information about the bike that’s going to be competing.

Ducati’s going to be taking over the MotoE contract from Energica next year, and here’s your first glimpse of the bike that’s going to be racing.

The ‘prototype’ which was put through its paces at the Misano Adriatico circuit by test rider Michele Pirro is codenamed ‘V21L’, and is the result of a collaboration between the Ducati Corse team and Ducati R&D designers.

Speaking about riding the bike, Pirro said: “The bike is light and already has a good balance. Furthermore, the gas connection in the first opening phase and the ergonomics are very similar to those of a MotoGP. If it weren’t for the silence and for the fact that in this test we decided to limit the power released to just 70% of performance, I would have thought very well that I was riding my bike.”

At this stage there’s been no official technical information released by the factory, and aside from the carbon fibre bodywork (and fairly standard Ducati superbike shape) we can’t glean much from the images of the bike. However, a statement from Ducati’s eMobility Director, Roberto Canè, suggests that Ducati's using its experience in MotoE to develop an electric bike for road use as soon as the technology allows.

Canè said: “The first electric Ducati on the track is exceptional not only for its uniqueness but also for the type of company; challenging both for the performance objectives and for the extremely short deadlines. Precisely for this reason the work of the whole team dedicated to the project was incredible and today's result repays us for the efforts made in the past months. We are certainly not finished. On the contrary, we know that the road is still very long, but in the meantime we have laid a first important 'brick'.”