The Ducati Panigale V4 wins on its debut in the first Italian Production Bike Championship, a category reserved for practically production bikes that runs alongside the Italian Superbike class. Davide Stirpe, three-time Italian Supersport champion and official Ducati test rider in the Vehicle Testing department, won the title thanks to two victories in the final two races at Mugello.
The Panigale V4 ridden by Stirpe was built and managed by Michele Pirro’s Garage51 team, led by ten-time Italian Superbike champion and Borgo Panigale’s MotoGP and Superbike test rider Michele Pirro.
This victory confirms the validity of Ducati’s technical solutions in developing the new Panigale V4, designed to maximize the benefits of tyre evolution. The Ducati Panigale V4 adopts technical solutions derived from MotoGP, such as its V4 engine with desmodromic timing and counter-rotating crankshaft.
Precisely because of the Panigale V4’s competitiveness, ten out of twenty riders opted for Ducati’s superbike to participate in the 2025 Production Bike Championship. Throughout the season, the Panigale V4 achieved 8 class victories and 22 podiums, monopolizing the top three spots in Race 2 at Misano and the Super Pole Race of the final round at Mugello. The Panigale V4 Production Bike achieved a podium finish three times in the overall standings, proving itself to be more competitive than many Superbikes, despite significantly more restrictive regulations.
The Production Bike category was created in 2025 within the CIV Superbike championship, with regulations shared with the EWC World Championship category of the same name, differing only in the lower price limit for the starting bike. In the Italian Championship, the category is reserved for entry-level sports bikes, to which only a limited number of modifications are permitted. The engine and gearbox must remain standard, with the exception of the exhaust and air filter, while the chassis can be modified by replacing only the rear shock absorber, the fork hydraulics, steering damper, front brake master cylinder, and brake discs.
Modifications to the electronics hardware are prohibited. The only concession concerns the addition of an engine calibration module, which the Borgo Panigale manufacturer has not used, relying on a ready-made package for racing competition.
Thanks to the Panigale V4’s electronic hardware, Ducati simply registered a specific version of the DAVC Race Pro software package with the Italian Motorcycling Federation, which was used on all Panigale V4s competing in the Championship. This package, developed in collaboration with Ducati Corse, optimizes engine calibration and vehicle control strategies to achieve maximum track performance in racing configuration with a full Akrapovič exhaust and slick and rain tyres.
Davide Stirpe’s Panigale V4 was equipped with Ducati Performance components, including the full Akrapovič exhaust system, which increases maximum power to 228 hp and reduces weight by 6.7 kg, the Ducati Data Logger (DDL), 338.5 mm Brembo T-Drive finned discs (available in Carbon Pro configuration), and the new racing switchgear set (soon available to all enthusiasts).
The setup was completed with a larger windshield, carbon fibre wings, carbon brake cooling ducts, and aluminium radiator and oil cooler grilles.
