Ducati Panigale V2 project has a 2026 international target
The Next Gen Supersport class was integrated with the Superbike field for the first time at this round, and while Kiwi Luca Durning is still finding his feet on the Desmosport Ducati Panigale V2, the Stop & Seal Racing trio of Tom Toparis, Jack Mahaffy and Archie McDonald all had tales of woe.
Mahaffy crashed his Next Gen prepared bike heavily during practice, while McDonald had electrical issues during qualifying. McDonald and Toparis posted the best results of the weekend and, as reported several issues ago, Goulburn-based Toparis has made the switch from Superbike to a Next Gen Supersport Panigale V2 with the intention of developing that machine for international competition in 2026.
Tom told us that this weekend was the first time he had ridden the Ducati.
“It was a good weekend overall, but it was always going to be a tough one,” he said. “I was just trying to get a good feeling with the bike. It kept getting better and better and the only time we went backwards was the last race.
“This whole project only came together a few weeks ago, so I’m missing parts like springs for preload; the bike was basically stock out of the crate.”
Toparis went on to explain the Panigale V2 has plenty of torque, keeping him busy on the shift lever. “You feel like you’re changing gears a lot,” he said. “It’s a different bike to ride – it revs out really fast and the massive torque drops away quickly – but it’s just something I have to get used to.”
The next step will be some testing at One Raceway and Phillip Island. “I’m still a long way from feeling comfortable on this bike but I’ve got to say a big thank you to Robbie (Bolger) and Claire (Sharkey) for backing such a cool project. I’m really looking forward to seeing how far we can take it.”
