After the Cremona test: Philipp Öttl speaks exclusively about the progress of the new Ducati V2

The 2026 Supersport World Championship will be the farewell season for the Ducati Panigale V2 currently in use. From 2027, the new model will be introduced; its production version was unveiled in autumn 2024 and has been available for purchase since last year.

Philipp Öttl completed the first test with the new race bike – which is currently still at the prototype stage – for the Bologna-based manufacturer in Misano in April. Another test at the World Circuit Marco Simoncelli followed in May, and on 29 July, the rider from Ainring spent a day on track in Cremona, south-east of Milan.

At the Circuit Angelo Bergamonti, there are public track days every Monday and Wednesday; doing laps there is significantly cheaper than hiring a circuit like Misano. “We didn’t have the track to ourselves,” Öttl explained in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “But firstly, the next race after Magny-Cours is in Cremona, and it’s good to have ridden there again. And secondly, we managed to get through almost everything we’d set out to test. From that point of view, one day there was enough.”

The engine and electronics are a huge topic in the Supersport World Championship.

Philipp Öttl

An initial race version of the new Panigale V2

Philipp took to the track twice on his current World Championship bike to establish a baseline; the main focus was on the new machine. “There’s not much you’re allowed to do to the bike due to the regulations,” explained the Assen winner. “The first test was just to try things out, and we finalised the riding position. The second test was just an afternoon, and we tried out some potential homologation parts. Things like lighter rims, which we might not be allowed to use, but we wanted to know whether they made a difference or not. Or whether the gearshift travel was right. Now we had a version that’s pretty much race-ready, with an engine prepared by Ducati, the mandatory Mectronic electronics, the radiator and the fairing that we’ll be racing with. Those were the big items; others, like the seat, are still to come. The engine and electronics are a huge topic in the Supersport World Championship, because you have a bit more freedom in these areas than with anything to do with the chassis.”

Ducati schätzt die Fähigkeiten von Philipp Öttl

Foto: gold & goose

“We were able to gather important insights in all areas and have found a direction,” added 30-year-old Öttl, who went into the eight-week summer break in early September in sixth place in the World Championship standings and was thus the second-best Ducati rider behind Jaume Masia (3rd). “But now there’s a lot of work to be done again, because we’re still very much at the beginning.”

This coming Saturday, Öttl will be taking part in a mountain bike race in Schruns in the Montafon valley alongside his father Peter (61). During the summer break, the programme includes at least two days’ training on the production V2, as well as further sessions on the Supermoto machine.