Image: Supplied.

Italian Lorenzo Zanetti was riding a race version of Ducati’s striking new Panigale V4 at the Jerez Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) test on Tuesday, preparing for its official debut in 2019.

In its first public appearance alongside a host of WorldSBK regulars, former World Supersport number three Zanetti posted a 1m41.665s for the 15th-fastest time overall on the opening day of pre-season testing.

“There is a lot of work to do, but if by the middle of the season the bike is ready then we can perhaps test with Chaz [Davies] and Marco [Melandri], although the goal is to have it ready by February 2019,” explained Aruba.it Racing Ducati team manager Serafino Foti.

With homologation not due until 2019 when the factory team debuts it full-time, Ducati is expected to use the current season as a development year for the V4 platform while Davies and Melandri continue on the current twin-cylinder Panigale R.