Driving report Superbike factory Ducati 996

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Driving report Superbike factory Ducati 996

Two wins

To the disgrace of the Japanese four-cylinder squadron, Carl Fogarty celebrated the hard-won third world title with his fiery red twin. MOTORRAD chased Foggy’s world championship Ducati 996 for the Mugello Grand Prix circuit.

“Believe me, our bikes have by far the lowest engine power in the entire field, and we are still – or perhaps because of that – world champions in 1998 too.” Davide Tardozzi, team principal of the newly crowned superbike hero Carl Fogarty, is convinced that the sheer quality The power of the current superbikes is almost impossible to control. “We are growing our factory machines more and more for better drivability instead of horrific horsepower. And if need be, we even reduce the acceleration, i.e. the torque of the engines, on some routes. This is often the only solution to get the chassis, tires and handling under control, ”explains Tardozzi while his mechanics prepare the world champion Ducati for the press conference in Mugello.
Even before you leave the pit lane, it becomes clear that on the 158 hp factory Ducati with the 996 cm3 V2 engine, people are the measure of all things. The seating position is loosely relaxed, the engine with a power band as wide as Italian pasta and a chassis set-up that offers no bony hardness, but a surprisingly high level of comfort.
Because the nicely heated Michelin pilot slicks interlock securely in the asphalt from the first meter, it goes around corners quickly. As marked with a compass, the 996 bends in a clean line through the curve layout of Mugello. It’s nice that the powerful twin benevolently saves the superbike newcomer unnecessary gearshift work and still snaps breathtakingly out of the corners. From 6500 rpm, the gas tap can be unlocked as far as it will go, almost 2000 tours later the four-valve engine rushes violently and only comes to rest when the digital tachometer nibbles at the 12000 mark. Press your upper body flat on the tank, let it stand at full throttle, one firm step on the gear lever equipped with CTS semi-automatic – and in no time the six gear steps, which are closely lined up, are quilted. The factory 996 is almost 300 km / h at the end of the home straight, so it is better to ask the Brembo brakes to work 100 meters early than 10 meters late.
If the pressure point changes due to extreme stress during the battle for championship points, the pilot can correct it at any time using a knurled screw on the left of the handlebar and without lifting the gas. The electronic circuit breaker can also be switched on or off using a toggle switch in the cockpit. Right next to it, the rider in a hurry has the option of two different ignition and injection maps that allow the Desmo-Twin to accelerate more or less aggressively. So that the driver is immediately informed of the effects of his changes, the display, controlled by an infrared pulse, shows the current lap time when crossing the finish line.
A slight but permanent oscillation around the steering axis when accelerating over undulating stretches of road makes it clear that the chassis geometry of the 996 is designed on the verge of egg dancing. But that’s the only way to iron the Ducati under Master Fogarty’s iron gas hand in no time at all through the tricky chicanes. A discipline that the street version, which is not exactly handy by default, masters a lot more easily.
D.he distinctive difference to the standard machine: feather-light magnesium wheels in moderate 3.50 x 17 and 5.75 x 17 inch dimensions with sharply contoured slicks. Logical that the regulations-compliant 162 kilograms dry weight with the compactly grouped masses around the center of gravity also benefit the handiness.
What is striking about the factory machine are the finely drawn weld seams on the tubular space frame, while the series counterpart is held together by the rather bulky joints of a welding robot.
The guest driver can hardly tell whether the test specimen was actually equipped with the almost 160 hp World Championship engine or just a “training variant“. And shouldn’t give us a big headache. It was always fast enough.
But whether Carl the Great clinched the world title with such a soft suspension setup? When braking, the ’46 Ohlins telescopic fork is sometimes already on the stop, and in the fast chicanes and downhill bends, informative feedback is sometimes lost in the soft coordination. “Carl actually tunes his 996 extremely smoothly, much softer than all other Ducati riders,” reports team boss Tardozzi. However, Fogy can’t be that wrong with his vote, because with 48 victories the reigning world champion is also by far the most successful superbike rider.

Model history – Phoenix from the ashes – the Ducati story

From the Ducati Pantah to the 996 – a concept with tradition and success

In 1987, the Japanese dominated international racing at will, regardless of the class. Nobody attached any serious importance to the appearance of the first four-valve Ducati, based on the 750 F1, in the TT Formula 1 World Championship. That should change. Because the team around the young and ambitious engineer Massimo Bordi pushed to the limit what the substance of the old V2 Pantah engines was. Increased to 851 cubic centimeters, Marco Lucchinelli fired the first warning shot with a win at the Superbike World Championship opener in Donington in 1988, which resulted in three World Championship titles in a row from Raymond Roche (1990 on the 851) and Doug Poland (1991 and 1992 on the 888) escalated into real fireworks. With the racing successes, sales and image also increased. Ducati – that was no longer ailing Italo rubbish, that was the thundering counterattack against the Japanese overwhelming power, although the Twins were able to benefit from a weight advantage of 25 kilograms stipulated in the regulations. Then Ducati had to gradually increase the weight until 1996 the level of the 750 four-cylinder of 162 kilos was reached. But even this measure could not stop the triumphant advance of the Italians. With the 916 concept presented in 1994 – a powerful V2 engine hidden behind a slim fairing – there were four more world titles to celebrate. This recently also called the Suzuki technicians on the scene, who sent the TL 1000 R with V2 engine into the race parallel to the GSX-R 750 four-cylinder. But until now, the Japan twin only hummed sporadically on the racing slopes. A fact that Massimo Bordi is right, who said years ago: “The Japanese will develop modern V2 engines in the future, but they will be amazed how complicated it is to make a powerful V2 machine really fast on the racing track . ??

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