The first thoughts on Ducati latest swingarm, and why it’s unlikely to be seen again in 2022
Ducati showcased another evolution of the Ducati Panigale V4 R’s swingarm at the Barcelona test, but could this “experimental” part be more of a thing for next year rather than 2022?
The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has warmed back up in August as the second half of the season comes onto the horizon, with more than half of the teams – including all factory teams – took part in a two-day summer test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain. One of the talking points was that in the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati garage, a new swingarm was spotted, as the team took the opportunity to work on the rear of the bike as well as start preparation for 2023.
THE TARGET: more rear grip
Different on first looks by the removal of the carbon at the top and instead replaced with unbraced aluminium with a hole which reveals more of the chain, as well as a different weld point towards the rear of it, the latest evolution is said to have been in search of more rear grip. After trying it out and gathering data, there were mixed opinions about it. We caught up with riders Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi as well as Ducati Corse Superbike’s Technical Coordinator Marco Zembenedetti, who shared their thoughts on it.
IN PRACTICE: Bautista ‘finds nothing’, Rinaldi more positive
Evaluating the new swingarm, World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista wasn’t overjoyed, and said that in the afternoon’s high temperatures, it was a step back: “This is one of the things that we tried here but sincerely, we didn’t find anything, it is exactly the same. The target was to find more rear grip but in fact, in the afternoon, it was even worse because it seems I pushed too much with the tyre and it was more difficult. It’s an idea from Ducati and we wanted to try it here, so this is the first time we try it; we will see for the future. It’s exactly the same as the last evolution, just with a piece in the swingarm to make it more stable and rigid. At this moment, we won’t take it for me to Magny-Cours.”
On something of the contrary, teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi was more optimistic and liked the initial feeling, although he’s unsure if it’s worthy to adjust to the newer spec when he knows the limits of the old one: “I tried the new swingarm and I liked some parts of it; I was able to find more edge grip, but you are using a swingarm for the year.
“With my base swingarm, I already knew the limit, so this one is different and to be able to use the new one to the limit is going to take time. I see something positive, so hopefully we will be able to take it to the next races or tests. I don’t think we’ll take it to Magny-Cours, as during a race weekend, you are focused on the result, and you don’t have time to try the swingarm in a proper way. However, the information we took from the test was really important for the future.”
INSIGHT: Zambenedetti on “very positive” test, working for 2023 and “experimental” swingarm
Giving a general resume of the test, Marco Zambenedetti, Ducati Corse Superbike’s Technical Coordinator was more than happy with the results: “After the test, the feeling is very positive! We had two targets; the first is to prepare the race here in Barcelona and the second is to try and improve the performance of the bike. We tested many things, some visible and some more difficult, but the important thing is that with the swingarm and the other parts, we have done a good test and now, we have a lot data which must be analysed and after this, we will see what we will take for the next races and the second part of the season and also what we have to develop for the next season.
Talking about the swingarm evolution, Zambenedetti continued, calling it “experimental’ but also not ruling out the prospect of seeing it again: “We have divided the job between the riders; there were a list of things to try with both of them. We have a good base, and this is the first feedback; the swingarm has some positives and negatives which must be understood and analysed. For the moment, because our base seems to work well on different tracks and different tarmac, we need a bit more time before deciding to introduce. This was an experimental part, but we got some feedback about this, so maybe we’ll see it in a different aspect in the future.”
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