Ducati Panigale V2 S (2025) Review: New V2 Tested on Track

Ducati’s Panigale range of sport bikes has always represented the pinnacle of performance from the Italian brand. If you want to go as fast as possible on track, few bikes can match the Panigale for raw, unadulterated speed.

With that in mind, you can imagine the gasps when, at the end of 2024, the Borgo Panigale brand revealed a new-for-2025 model of the popular V2, which instantly became the least powerful Panigale to date.

And for once this lower power output had nothing to do with reducing emissions or improving fuel economy - or at least that’s what they said... With this bike, Ducati said it was looking to open the door to Panigale ownership to more customers. Especially those customers who may never go near a race track, and those who might have been put off by the old V2’s 150bhp plus power output.

For this test we flew to the global press launch in Seville, Spain. Here we would try out the V2 S variant of the new Panigale on track, over six fifteen-minute sessions on the brand new Seville Circuit, just outside of Carmona.

2025 Panigale V2 Price, colours and availability

The new Panigale V2 S will be landing in dealers in the UK in Q1 2025 with a list price of £16,995 - £2,000 more than the outgoing bike. The base model V2 will start at £14,995, the same price as the outgoing bike. When it comes to colours, you can have anything you like, as long as it's red.

What’s the new 2025 Panigale V2 S all about

With such sweeping changes for the model, it's no surprise that the new bike is exactly that, all-new from the bottom to the top. It does, though, utilise some of the design themes of the previous version, such as the front monocoque frame and unmistakable Panigale styling.

The reason for all the headlines, though, is the engine. With the outgoing 955cc Superquadro proving too tricky (read expensive) to update to Euro-5+ spec, Ducati instead opted to design a whole new engine platform. One that could slide into the other bikes in the range, like the Multistrada V2 and Streetfighter V2.

The result is an 890cc 90-degree V-twin, canted back in the frame by 20 degrees and utilised as a stressed member. In Panigale trim it produces a claimed 118bhp at 10,750rpm and 68 lb-ft at 8,250rpm. The peak power may be more than 30bhp shy of the Superquadro’s, but with more torque available in the low-range (70 per cent from around 3,000rpm) it should be much more user friendly, and a lot more accessible.

The rest of the bike is more true to the Panigale bloodline, with the V2 S boasting a fully adjustable Ohlins NIX fork at the front, with a matching Ohlins shock taking care of the rear end. The electronics package is about as good as it gets at this capacity, thanks to V4-derived assistance that ticks all the boxes. You get wheelie control, launch control, a pit-lane limiter, engine brake control, the obligatory cornering ABS and traction control and an up-and-down shifter and blipper.

One area where the new V2 differs from the old is in the ergonomics, with Ducati aiming to make the 2025 bike “the best Ducati sportbike on the road ever made”, it has more relaxed, and much less extreme ergonomics than before.

What’s it like to ride

For this press launch, we take on the Seville Circuit, which only opened in October 2024 meaning it is effectively a new track to everyone on the event. With that in mind, it’s going to be an interesting test, given that the early sessions will be about learning the track, and the afternoon sessions will be more about getting to grips with the bike.

My first session is a slow and steady affair and with the track warming but still not optimum, I’m feeling my way around and getting to grips with the circuit's blind crests and undulations. It’s a tricky place, with an almost 50/50 split of fast-sweeping corners and more tight and technical sections. Turns two and three, as well as five and six, are particularly tricky, with the track diving out of view shortly before the apex meaning I’ve got to pick my line and commit, which is proving difficult.

The bike, though, is making the process of learning the track much easier than if I were riding a much more powerful V4. With the longest straight on the track showing 140mph on the neat-looking TFT dash, the corners aren’t flying at me like they would be on a more powerful bike. The little V2 has a couple of other superpowers that are coming in handy during these early sessions.

At under 200kg ready to ride, it’s a very light machine and feels effortless to flick from side to side. It’s also graced with some of the best stoppers on the planet, with Brembo’s Stylema calipers and 320mm discs making it feel almost over-braked. The thing just stops on a dime, and on a couple of occasions when I miss my braking marker, I can still find the apex, just a little later than planned.

It’s also one of the easiest bikes I’ve ever ridden to countersteer, which is especially handy as I navigate the kink on the back straight of the track. The asphalt just disappears over a crest, hiding the direction of the track and meaning that small corrections are needed to keep the bike pinned to the left of the circuit ready for the next sweeping right-hand hairpin. All it takes is the slightest push on the left handlebar and the bike is edging itself over to the lefthand side of the track.

With a general idea of where the track is going, it’s now time to start learning about the bike, and it's a very different machine to the previous generation V2. For starters, it’s much more user-friendly than before, both thanks to the more easy-going ergonomics and of course the engine’s less peaky and aggressive output. With the engine pulling cleanly from low revs, it’s much more tractable, and I’m not waiting for the engine to hit the sweet spot as was the way with the 955. There’s still a pull to the redline at the top of the revs, but it’s nowhere near as manic as before.

Aiding the rideability are the ergonomics, with the new bike easily becoming the most comfortable Panigale ever made. It’s thanks to the surprisingly roomy cockpit, wide and high clip-ons (60mm up on the previous V2), and rearsets that walk the line between sporty and relaxed. I can still get into the body positions required, but I also feel like I could spend a full dawn-til-dusk riding day on the road with the new bike. I’m not sure I could say the same thing about the outgoing model.

As mentioned at the beginning, the electronics the new Panigale V2 and V2 S are graced with are as good as it gets, in this segment and quite possibly the two-wheeled world. I’ve been riding in the ‘Race’ riding mode which as standard sets the power to high (giving the full 118bhp), traction control at level three (of eight), and wheelie control at level two (of four). Things get interesting when we look at the ABS, which is in mode two specifically set up for less experienced riders on track. Cornering ABS is still active, while the rear lift detection is deactivated and the slide-by-brake function is switched on. This allows even newer riders to back the rear end in using the brake.

It doesn’t take me long to figure out that the traction control at level three isn't needed, so I dial that back to level one along with the wheelie control. While it can wheelie, on this track there aren’t any natural places where I’d want that kind of safety net. I am enjoying the slide-by-brake function lots, as it does exactly what Ducati claims. Braking into the slow turn one hairpin I can stomp on the rear brake as hard as I like, and instead of upsetting the bike’s balance or locking the rear wheel, the superbike spec electronics allow just enough braking pressure through to the caliper to instigate a slide. It makes doing this feel almost like I’m pressing the ‘O’ button on a PlayStation controller. There’s literally zero skill involved and the bike is just making me look like a better rider than I actually am. And it’s the bike that is making exploring this kind of technology so easy, as it would be much more daunting on a more powerful and focused bike. On the new V2, you don’t feel intimidated, it’s almost like the bike wants you to experiment with things, to play with it. It’s no surprise that Mr Bagnaia and Mr Marquez will be using 25-spec V2s as their MotoGP training tools, not the more extreme 955 models.

The rest of the new bike’s handling is a keynote speech from Ducati on how to make a bike fast and fun, yet eminently easy to ride. On the brakes it feels beautifully sure-footed, and while some of the faster riders on the event noted some bottoming out of the forks (which you could dial out with some increased preload) for me that wasn’t a problem. With less power than the old V2, you have to make the most of the corner entry and apex, and with 118bhp on tap (and thanks to Pirelli slicks and the Ohlins suspension and steering damper) the bike feels rock solid on the corner exit. It dawned on me at the end of the day that of all the bikes that were lined up in rows, not a single one of them had ripped or torn tyres, they just looked ready for another few sessions of fun. If you take into consideration value for money with trackdays, on the tyre and fuel front at least, the new baby Panigale might be a bit of a revelation.

Any bad bits

On the whole no. For a ground-up new bike, it’s actually very good. The only thing that cropped up from time to time was a gearbox glitch, and I was kind of expecting it. I published my 2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 review a few weeks ago, and at that event I picked on a rather odd gearbox characteristic. Very occasionally, and seemingly randomly, the quickshifter would hesitate when shifting from first to second, and second to third. It’s almost like the kill time isn’t quite right, and it takes a moment for the electronics to catch up. I spoke to one of Ducati’s engine team at the event and they said it was down to a shifting strategy that helps to mesh the gears as you move up the box.

Admittedly that is a different reason than the one I was given on the Multistrada V2 launch which put it down to a glitch that would be sorted before dealer delivery. Either way, it’s more of a minor annoyance than anything else. On track, all it meant was a minor pause in forward progress for a split second, before the drive would engage again.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2 Verdict

It probably comes as no surprise to hear that a bright red bike, built by Ducati and called a Panigale is bloody good to ride, but there it is. I said it. And I know that’s going to be a tricky pill to swallow for a lot of you reading this, and I’m not about to start harping on about less is more and yada yada yada. But in a world where people aren’t buying into sports bikes like they used to, despite the recent resurgence courtesy of the CBR600RR, people are looking away from the track, and back at the streets. While it's weird that we tested the new Panigale V2 solely on track, it’s still the road-focused sports bike market that Ducati is aiming at. And it’s staring right at the top of the segment.

Granted, on the track and in the hands of most mere mortals, the old V2 would be quicker, and I know Ducati has published lap times to dispute that, but those lap times were posted by pro riders, at the top of their game and at a track that played to the new V2’s strengths. For most riders, raw power will overthrow low weight, high corner speed and supremely strong brakes. What raw power won't do is make a bike easier and more enjoyable to ride, especially for less experienced riders. It also won’t make a bike feel more accommodating, and those are all the things that the new Panigale V2 does very well.

It’s a supremely forgiving bike in a couple of important ways. Firstly, it’s much more forgiving than a 1,000cc bike, for all the obvious reasons. You aren’t getting battered on the brakes at corner entry. Nor are you having your shoulders wrenched from their sockets on the corner exit. The corners aren’t flying at you so quickly that you don’t know what to do with them, and with less power to manage you feel much more comfortable exploring the bike’s limits.

Secondly, it’s arguably more forgiving than a ‘traditional’ 600cc, inline four-cylinder supersport bike, and it’s thanks to the engine. Fluff your lines (or your gears) on a trad’ 600 and you’ll be rueing your mistake for the full length of the next long straight. But on a bike like this, with strong low-end delivery, that’s simply not a problem.

So, it’s quite possibly the best of the new breed Supersport bikes, but we kind of knew that would be the case already. The trouble is, as a journalist, my verdict comes from the heart, not the head. And when you buy a bike, your head has to take into account things like the cost to buy, insurance and all the other post-sale finances. While your heart just points you in a vague direction and hopes for the best. On that front, it’s hard to escape the 890cc Panigale V2 S’ £16,995 price tag. And while that is more than the new Yamaha R9 and  the already available Suzuki GSX-8R, Aprilia RS660 and Triumph Daytona 660, the electronics system and chassis of the new Ducati would simply eclipse them with their accuracy and ability on the road and the track. If you can afford to spend that amount on one of these kinds of road-focused, sub-1,000cc sports bikes, the new Panigale V2 or V2 S seem to be the ones to go for.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2 S spec