Marc Potter blog: The Ducati Desmosedici day was amazing!

Rode a Ducati Desmosedici RR for the first time at Donington Park yesterday, and it was more like riding in a one-make championship.

As (mostly) rich blokes prepared to ride their £42k motorbikes around Donington Park, I sneaked a ride on one owned by Ducati Wolverhampton.

I’ve ridden more powerful road bikes, but none with the chassis, feel and agility of this. Cliche? But yeah, like riding a race bike.

But it sucks you in, making you go that little bit faster everywhere until you start using another gear, start driving it harder and find the limits of the rear tyre. Up to 11,000rpm it feels like a very smooth 1198 but then it revs like hell and keeps on revving to 16,000rpm.

Not that you can tell as the dash is impossible to see. Just look out for the shift lights and bang it up another gear.

It was easy to ride fast, but not as fast as one man – Ducati’s test rider Vittoriano Guareschi, he’s quite good as he goes, and watching him leave a black line from the front tyre of a completely standard 1198S was incredible to witness. With one finger on the brake.

What a day.

What a bike.