This New Limited-Edition Ducati Has A Mind-Boggling Power-To-Weight Ratio

Yes, yes, we know, we’re briefly becoming Bike Throttle again, but Ducati has released something a bit special – and there’s a tenuous link to cars here anyway.

Here are images of the 1299 Superleggera - revealed at big the Milan bike show - described by current boss Claudio Domenicali as “the most incredible bike ever built by Ducati.” Just 500 will be made.

It pretty much follows the same ethos as the 1199 Superleggera from 2014, but turning everything up one notch further. Thanks to a liberal buttering with carbonfibre parts it weighs just 150kg dry, which is 5kg less than the 2014 bike. Any lighter and it’d blow away with the breeze.

The 1199 weighed 11kg heavier with fluids but no fuel, so it’s safe to assume the 1299 will sit ready for the road at less than 180kg. What makes this especially potent is a 215bhp V-twin engine; the most powerful ever built.

It lends the new superbike a staggering power-to-weight ratio of over 1430bhp per tonne against the dry weight. It’s nearly 1200bhp per tonne even with all fluids and a full tank of fuel. With a MotoGP rider on board? Still around 875bhp per tonne. Crikey. Safe to say it’ll be quick, then.

Since its acquisition by Audi, which also owns Lamborghini, Ducati has commandeered the Raging Bull’s Superleggera sub-brand, meaning superlight. It’s a name that’s well and truly earned in the 1299’s case, with a carbon frame, carbon wheels and a carbon swingarm.

It’s all tightly packaged into as small as a space as proper cooling will allow, before being wrapped in Ducati’s signature colours. A no-compromise, hardcore racer for the road, it’s the exact opposite end of the sports bike scale to the confusingly-named SuperSport we’ve covered before.

The price for this miniaturised rocket ship? Brace yourself. In the UK it’s set at £70,000. Sadly that’s not a typo. Get saving.