With the 1299 Panigale R Final Edition, Ducati celebrated the twin cylinder engine that marked the history of the Superbike World Championship. From Marco Lucchinelli’s first victory with the 851 in 1988 at the inaugural World Superbike Championship, to 2017, with Chaz Davies’ multiple victories on the Panigale R - the twin cylinder from Borgo Panigale has always been a top performer in the Superbike Championships.

This stunning 1:4 scale cast metal and fine grade modellers plastic multi-media kit by Pocher has a factory finished paint application and is comprised from more than 600 parts. It was built by Tony Dennis, who took the Pocher kit and then scratch worked and re-engineered all of the parts in order to provide tight, smooth and consistently predictable moving surfaces in many areas of the model.

He would re-profile internal surfaces, improve these inner contact areas with additional materials and techniques to return imperfectly engineered parts to a higher standard, achieving a greater overall level of precision. He applied these transformative techniques to the steering action to provide a smooth-running rotational movement of the headstock. Also, the improvement of the telescopic front forks provides realistic firm front suspension. The clutch and brake and throttle actions were re-engineered internally to enable a realistic return. Most impressive was Dennis’ construction of the rear wheel adjustment mechanism with eccentric limb adjustment for variations in chain tension. He re-engineered this from the inside and applied lubricant to enable the supplied spanner to be used to realistically adjust said mechanism. Finally, the float chambers were sealed from below and filled with engine oil. The drive chain was heat treated and individual links and sprocket teeth edges filed for realistic engagement without ‘pick-up’. Tony studied the General Arrangement Drawings of the road going bike to ensure total realism and utilised an aftermarket detail kit that provided additional authentic parts to scale in order to make this example of a Pocher Ducati 1299 Panigale one of the very best in the world.

Tony Dennis was a professional tool maker and production manager, who retired in his mid-50s to return to his lifelong hobby of model making. From the mid-1990s, Tony was able to earn a living from making bespoke one-off models commissioned by wealthy owners of exotic mid-twentieth century race cars such as the mid-1950s Formula 1 Maserati 250F. Tony wouldn’t cut corners or compromise his techniques in producing miniaturised parts precisely scaled down from his research measurements and drawings and this is seen in the excellent workmanship of the Ducati motorbike which was a special commission request by the current owner.