Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies Ride the 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R at Circuit of the Americas

Ducati was absent at a recent MotoGP test at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas, attended by Honda and Yamaha‘s riders. But that doesn’t mean Ducati‘s American riders Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies won’t get a chance to ride their newest home track. The Kentucky Kid, Hayden, and Texas’ own Spies recently hit the COTA track on the new Ducati 1199 Panigale R for the sportbike’s press launch.

Our very own Kevin Duke is attending the launch and he’ll provide his first-hand look at the R version of the Panigale, but here’s what we know about the World Superbike and Superstock-homologated racebike.

The Panigale R has all the features of the S version but adds titanium con-rods, a lightweight flywheel, diamond-like-coating rocker arms, a higher rev limit of 12,000 rpm (versus 11,500 on the S), a four-point adjustable swingarm pivot, various light-weight carbon fiber parts and a 41-tooth rear sprocket (compared to a 39-tooth sprocket on the standard and S versions).

The 1199 Panigale R also comes with a race kit consisting of a racing screen and fairing mirror caps, as well as a full Termignoni exhaust system and track-only ECU mapping Ducati claims provides a 3% power increase at high rpms and a 15% improvement in the midrange.

Keep checking back here on Motorcycle.com for EiC Duke’s review of the 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of Hayden and Spies at Circuit of the Americas.

[Source: Ducati]

By Dennis Chung