ON TRACK...DUCATI PANIGALE V4R

Ducati settles for nothing less than perfection, and the V4R is right at the very forefront of that. Experience is the first word that springs to mind; it's a truly special experience to ride this Panigale (just like the rest of the V4 range), and you can just tell that every last detail has been thought about with this bike.

- TIM NEAVE

This first thing I noticed when swinging my leg over this beauty is just how incredibly refined everything is, and I want to start with the throttle connection; it's just next-level. When you're on the edge of the tyres at maximum lean angle and you tap the throttle on in first gear, it is silky smooth and I honestly don't think I've ever ridden a bike with such a soft throttle response - and that is so confidence-inspiring while riding on track and pushing things to the limit.

The electronic rider aids of the modern Ducatis never fail to blow me away, but before I get into that, I'll start by mentioning the rider modes. I ran it in the sport mode for the first outing on circuit, but having just jumped off the Fireblade (which was already dialled in with the correct track settings), it felt fairly numb and flat in the power and torque department. Sport mode is a pre-set mode that leans on many of the rider aids, so I ended up changing into the race A mode, which is fully customisable and allowed me to dial everything down to the minimum setting. This completely transformed the performance of the bike, which is another great point about this machine - when you make a change, you always feel the difference.