Motorcycle specifications Ducati1198 RS SUPERBIKE Althea 2011 Combat satellite

although Ducati is no longer officially present in the World Superbike Championship, the Bolognese manufacturer's presence is still firmly rooted in WSBK territory. The high hopes raised by the Althea Racing team and the outstanding performances of Carlos Checa are testimony to this. In 2010, the Spanish rider was more effective than the Ducat' official riders. This year, it's Althea's privateer 1198 RS that leads the way for the reds. And although this hypersport is a competitive bike, that didn't stop Checa from scoring a one-two finish in the very first round of the season at Philip Island. Let's not forget that Ducati Corse keeps a close eye on its satellite teams, and didn't hesitate to give a few good parts to the 1198 n°7.

it's no picnic for the 1198 RS to go head-to-head with the monstrous Japanese machines. On paper, it has to make up for the handicaps of the standard 1198 R. With an in-store weight of 165 kilos, the diva has to carry a lot of ballast to reach the 168 kg required for world championship racing. Worse still: while the dealer's model breathes deeply with its huge elliptical intake manifolds, the F and RS models are restricted by 50 mm-diameter intake manifolds. You might as well have put a snorkel on Christophe Lemaitre during his 100-meter dash. Fortunately, a Termignoni exhaust system and a few parts come to the rescue. Racing pistons, camshafts, clutch, gearbox and serious engine tuning raise the bar to over 200 hp and top-end efficiency. The twin is officially rated at 200 bhp at 11,000 rpm, but the needle climbs to over 12,000 rpm when racing. A bonus in terms of extension, which must certainly bring with it some extra oomph. While not the fastest bike on the road, especially in the face of the Aprilia RSV4 rocket, the 1198 still tops 320 km/h.

big horsepower only accounts for a quarter of Ducati World Championship performance (and this is true of all machines now). Another quarter goes to the rider, one to the chassis, and the last to the electronics. Engine management, anti-wheeling and traction control are the keys to the quintessential Bolognese hypersport. In this area, the on-board electronics rival those of Aprilia.
On the suspension front, we find the excellence of Öhlins. But the pressurized TTX25 fork has been swapped (to be confirmed) for the TTXTR recently adopted in MotoGP. A pair of ultra-light 16.5" rims and Brembo radial monobloc brake calipers complete the package, providing excellent ground contact and muscular cornering.

M.B - Team Althea and sbk.com photos