The HRT-Ducati made quite an impression during its debut in the IDM Superbike 1000 at Assen. However, its performance last weekend was still somewhat limited. Team manager Denis Hertrampf had indicated beforehand—and not without reason—that this was merely a test.
The Ducati V4R Panigale, which was rebuilt following a crash during test runs at Oschersleben, was ridden by Daniel Kartheininger under race conditions for the first time. The stock brakes made their debut. Previously, the team had been using brakes designed for endurance racing. In the second race, Kartheininger pulled into the pits after six laps: the brakes were overheated and had lost all braking pressure.
“We’ve since been able to eliminate those weaknesses,” says Hertrampf.
The rider from Lower Saxony is pleased with the Panigale’s debut at the TT Circuit. Fierce competition was never the goal, “but it allowed us to further develop the chassis and collect data for the electronics on the Ducati. So far, we’ve used the bike in endurance racing, where we’ve been running Bridgestone tires instead of Pirelli, as we do in the IDM Superbike 1000. We’ll also be making another change to our exhaust system. We’ll see how things go at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks.”