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The Ducati Panigale V4 S took it upon itself to humble the Porsche GT2 RS
by Sidd Dhimaan, on LISTEN 03:47If there’s any car in Tesla Model S Plaid recent times that’s been able to maintain a Tesla Model S Plaid-like dominance on the drag strip, it is the Porsche GT2 RS. The GT2 RS is quite fast, but it has been handed a rare loss here by a superbike. The superbike in question is the Ducati Panigale V4 S and it has humbled the GT2 RS in this race conducted by Daniel Abt. Where does the Porsche go from here?
The Weight Makes All The Difference
The Porsche GT2 RS is powered by a 3.8-liter, six-cylinder turbocharged mill that makes 690 ponies and 553 pound-feet of twist.
A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox channels power to the wheels.
The Ducati Panigale V4 S features a 1.0-liter, V-4 engine that puts out 211 horses and 91 pound-feet of torque.
A six-speed gearbox powers the wheels.
The biggest difference between the two is the weight. The Porsche weighs in at 3,241 pounds, whereas the Ducati weighs just 430 pounds; over 2,800 lighter more than the GT2 RS. This pretty much offsets all the power advantage that the Porsche has over the superbike.
The Porsche Is Fast, But The Ducati Is Faster
In the first drag race, the Porsche hooked on well and got off to a great start. For a second it looked like the Ducati was a little slow, but it soon broke free and zoomed past the GT2 RS. The Porsche was quicker in the 0-62 mph sprint. It took 3.63 seconds, whereas the superbike took 3.76 seconds. Things changed thereafter as the Ducati finished the quarter-mile run in 10.62 seconds at 142.4 mph and the Porsche in 11.05 seconds at 137.5 mph.
The second run went exactly how the first one did, but with different timings, of course. The Ducati took 3.53 seconds to 62 mph and the Porsche took 3.4 seconds, both doing better than before. The superbike then went on to touch the finish line in 10.41 seconds at 148.7 mph. The GT2 RS wasn’t at its best and finished the run in 10.82 seconds at 137.7 mph.
The third run saw the Ducati struggle for traction whereas the Porsche had a flawless start. But, as Linkin Park said, “in the end, it doesn’t even matter”. The superbike took 3.6 seconds to 62 mph and 10.42 seconds at 148.6 mph to finish the race. The GT2 RS killed it with a 3.19-second sprint to 62 mph and took 10.63 seconds at 137.3 mph to touch the finish line which isn’t bad by any means – but not good enough to beat its two-wheeled rival here.
The final round was the rolling race from 43.5 mph (70 kph) and the Ducati just flew at kickdown, giving no chance for the Porsche to win the race. The times for this weren’t revealed, but it was a sweet win over the German car, which resulted in a 4-0 win for the superbike.
Watch the video below and share your thoughts about this race with us in the comments section.
