Ducati Panigale V4 S wins both races at the Pan Delta Series in Zhuhai, China

•Victories in both Race 1 and Race 2 mark the first international success for the Ducati Panigale V4

•Alessandro Valia on a Panigale V4 S in Zhuhai for the second round of the Pan Delta Series of the Chinese Superbike Championship

•The result confirms the outstanding performance of the Panigale V4 S, the maximum expression of engineering for Ducati’s production superbike

Zhuhai (China), 18 June 2018 – The Ducati Panigale V4 S scored an outstanding result at the Pan Delta Series, the Chinese Superbike Championship, which took place on the Zhuhai track on June 16th and 17th.

Alessandro Valia, official Ducati test rider, started from the pole position and won both Race 1 and Race 2 on a production motorcycle accessorized with Ducati Performance parts, achieving the first international victory on a Panigale V4 S.

Valia raced with the CER – Ducati Hong Kong racing team that has been competing in the Chinese championship since four seasons.

Alessandro Valia (CER – Ducati Hong Kong racing team, #8) – 1st in Race 1 and 2

“Both races were very hard due to the extremely hot weather here in Zhuhai during this weekend, but the characteristics of the Panigale V4, enabled me to ride smoothly in first place from the beginning to the end of both race 1 and 2.

Being the main test rider for the Panigale V4 I have always been confident about its performance and I knew from the beginning that we would have been extremely competitive.

It is also a huge satisfaction for me to be able to bring the Panigale V4 from its first stages of development to its very first international race victory.

I want to thank the CER – Ducati Hong racing team, Ducati China and Ducati Asia for the combined support as well as Pirelli for always providing us with the most performing tires on the market.”

More, from a press release issued by Dan Kruger Racing:

2 MORE PODIUMS IN BLISTERING CHINA HEAT FOR CANADIAN DAN KRUGER

June 17, 2018-Zhuhai International Circuit, China

33c, Sunny, Humid

Canadian Dan Kruger added some crucial points to the Superbike Championship in China by finishing 2nd and 3rd this past weekend. Kruger was in fine form as he had tested at the same circuit just 2 weeks earlier in very similar weather conditions and as a result, had a good base setup for this double header. He faced even tougher competition as Factory Ducati flew over a brand new race ready V4 along with Factory Test Rider Alessandro Valia to help secure a double win for the red brand. The bike turned a lot of heads and with its distinct sound and massive power and was the talk of the weekend.

“Valia is tough to stay with on a normal weekend, but put him on a new V4 race bike and he was in a class of his own.” Kruger stated. “We went almost a second quicker than in the March race here and that is mainly due to the test two weeks ago where we got our hands on a new map and made big progress with the wheelie control.” Kruger added. In the end, Dan managed a 2nd and 3rd in the doubleheader and extended his points total where he sits 2nd overall in the Championship. The team will do some more testing in August and see if they can find a more consistent race pace as they already have a good pace on a single lap using a Pirelli Q Tyre.

With over 20,000 spectators taking in the various forms of motorsport racing, energy was high and racing in China continues to grow exponentially each year. New tracks are opening, Motorcycle Dealerships are opening throughout China as the Government loosens restrictions for large displacement motorcycles. The organizers have done an amazing job with this event and transformed it into almost a 2 day festival with many different attractions, food kiosks, and product vendors for the spectators to enjoy.

The team is enjoying more support than in previous years with the Japanese sending technicians over to help with the electronics and with the suspension. Motul is working closer with the Factory supported Kawasaki Team for 2018 and Dan returned the support by spending an hour each day signing posters inside the Motul tent where fans can purchase product and learn more about the Motul line. It was a huge success and they ran out of posters and hats about 25 minutes into the 2nd day of signing.

Expect the team to be fighting for the win in the final 2 races this September since Kruger is looking confident on the bike and showing better form every time he heads out on the circuit.

Titanic Kawasaki and Dan Kruger Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors for stepping up their support for 2018 in the highly competitive China Championship. Thanks to Kawasaki, Motul, Pirelli, Dainese, X-Lite, Brembo, BG, Hindle, EBC, Sprint Filters, Moto-Tron, Ktech, RK, Kinetik Batteries, Nature Power, and the entire Team.

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