

South African Superbike racer Chris Leeson is campaigning a Ducati 1199 Panigale in the domestic series. He hit our radar last month when he took some of the first racing glory for the Ducati Panigale when he took pole position in its world racing debut. This time he shows how quickly you can dismantle a 1199 when you hit one of Kyalami’s notorious bumps.
Crashes that cause this much damage usually demand some serious airtime for the bike followed by numerous tumbles. Notice in the opening photo that the swing arm is snapped in half and the trick Ohlins side mounted rear shock is sticking straight up in the air!
Perhaps our favorite shot is the one above which shows the bike several feet in the air with the rest wheel several feet higher still. The seat? Why that’s above the tumbling rider.
Luckily Chris escaped this dramatic step off with only the customary bumps, bruises and stitches that professional motorcycle racers shrug off like us mere mortals shrug off a mosquito *******.
After so much violence, the mangled Ducati 1199 just lies there, allowing the team to start ringing up the expensive bill that will be required to fix it. At least one of the termignoni mufflers looks alright!