Having been temporarily idle due to the pandemic, Ducati allowed most of its staff to return to work at the end of April. And it didn’t take long for more good news to follow, this time directly from the company’s CEO, Claudio Domenicali, via tweet.

The final pre-production version of the near $150,000 Ducati Superleggera V4 is headed to the massive proving grounds at the Nardò Technical Centre in Southern Italy. There, the bike will be put through its paces by lead Ducati test rider, Alessandro Valia.

Created in 1975, the Nardò facility boasts more than 20 different track configurations spread across roughly 1,729 aces. It’s a venue used by numerous automotive companies and a circuit that Ducati uses extensively before any new model reaches the final stages of production.

The Ducati Superleggera V4 weighs 158-kilograms in its standard presentation if you can call anything about the bike “standard.” In race trim, however, which includes Akrapovič titanium racing exhaust, the model comes in at only 152kg (dry weight) and the output of its Desmosedici Stradale V-4 engine bumps up to 175kW. That figure, combined with the bike’s ubiquitous carbon fibre—comprising the chassis, swingarm, wheels and body—give the machine a power-to-weight ratio of 1.14kW per kilogram

A preproduction version of Ducati’s Superleggera V4 being tested on track. Photo: Courtesy of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.

Sure to be an instant classic, the market-ready Ducati Superleggera V4 is due to start official production this week. But if you think you may have missed out on your chance to own one of the 500 available units worldwide, think again.