MIDDLE-CLASS REFINEMENT

Just a few laps into my second session at Jerez, and already the Panigale V2 is in its element. Ducati’s mid-capacity sports bike rips round the Spanish circuit feeling sorted, quick and most of all supremely controllable. It’s the sort of bike that flatters its rider and makes relearning a racetrack rewardingly easy.

The sharply styled red V2 looks much like its big brother the Panigale V4, thanks to its flared nostrils, bright red paintwork, single-sided swing-arm and a stubby silencer tucked in neatly on its right side. But if I were riding the V4 I’d be experiencing very different sensations – battling G-forces