Grip & Rip
GRIP & RIP
Notes from The Edge
Cock-ah-doodle-do announces sunrise over Circuito de Jerez-one of the best tracks I’ve ever had the opportunity to ride-followed closely by the distant, distinct thunder of a Ducati 1098R wearing 102-dB Termignonis.
Before we salivating scribes attending the R’s world press launch could sample Ducati’s $39,995 pinnacle of twin-cylinder technology, we first listened as Ingenere Andrea Forni imparted his schtick about the historic parity between road-legal and production-homologation World Superbikes. Bottom line? This is the first motorcycle you can buy with full-on, no-excuses traction control, what Ducati calls DTC. The system’s data is derived directly from Casey Stoner’s MotoGP machíne and uses wheel-speed sensors that I couldn’t wait to try and disrupt.
Before leaving pit row, I thumbed through the menu and chose one of eight traction settings, #1 being the least amount of electronic intrusion. For the first session, as directed, I used setting #4.
Hey, forget traction assistance, I was thinking Help me, Jesus! as I drove hard down the back straight, the 1098R torqueing to the top of fourth gear, maybe 148 mph. At that speed, corner fast approaching, I was happy to have the assurance of those big front Brembos at my fingertips. Full on the binders for a 180-degree right, slipperclutch engagement smearing in rear-wheel speed and traction while canceling any sign of wheel-hop during downshifts. Here the slipper mechanism and traction control meshed together seamlessly.
DTC works most obviously when exiting slower corners; there, you can feel the power interruption and hear the motor stutter. In faster corners, the effect is more of a subtle feathering, akin to a very soft rev-limiter. It takes some getting used to-and real familiarization will only come back at home after many laps at different settings on a well-known track-but I soon came to trust my little electronic friend, DTC.
At first, though, my corner entrance speeds were off, limited by the 1098R’s relaxed steering geometry. I really had to pry on the bars and could feel the front wheel running wide; plus, I was leaned over so much I was having a hard time keeping my toes off the ground. In later sessions, adding preload and raising rear ride height helped with the toe-dragging and relieved understeer.
Having made my reacquaintence with Jerez, and feeling comfortable with DTC, it was time for some hot, head-down laps. In setting #3, power delivery felt crisper, especially at the threshold of traction, but was still very controllable, Factor in the super-communicative TTX shock and Óhlíns fork, and it was like riding in a state of suspended animation. No wonder Stoner was near-invincible last year!
Soon, I was into the low 1:51 s, quicker than I went during the finals of MasterBike 2006, held at Jerez, and even quicker than last year’s shootout winner, an MV Agusta R312 that turned a 1:52.8albeit using Continental Attack control tires, not the stickier Pirelli Diablo Supercorsas standard on the 1098R.
Reducing the DTC to setting #1 with a worn tire wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Back to #3,1 no longer had to worry about the rear end stepping out, only where I was going to turn in and what I was aimed at once accelerating. Relax, let the electronics work, see lap times drop.
So, Ducati’s 1098R with traction control is an incredible trackday tool. On the street, if you’re riding hard enough to cue the DTC, you’re probably too close to the edge, anyway. But one thing’s for sure: Whatever it’s called, traction control for sportbikes isn’t going away. I say welcome aboard. -Mark Cernicky
