Apparently, Polen went ~1sec faster around the track on the 999s over the 1098s in Mag review. I also found this from a racer in CA.

With defending champion Eric Gulbransen failing to make the Desmoto Sport Open Twins grid after experiencing mechanical problems on his new Ducati 1098, Tom Montano took the win on his Monroe Motors Ducati 1098, with Ken Hill finishing second in his first ride on a Ducati 749. Despite beating a horde of fast GSX-R750s in the R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike race earlier in the day, the best Brian Parriott could do in the twins class on his San Jose BMW R1200S was a third place finish.

“The new 1098 works really well, we’re just having some teething problems with the suspension,” said Montano. “Power wise, it’s great! I rode my older bike (a 999) this morning, and thought if I could just have that chassis and this motor, it’ll almost be like we’re cheating! It’s unfortunate that Gulbransen wasn’t out there, but it was great racing with Brian Parriott and with Ken on the older style bike – he was faster in the fast stuff, but in the infield I could make up ground on him, and we definitely used a bit of power. It was a good ride!”


Suspension/chassis don't seem to be as refined as the old bike (yet).

Suspension is always a variable with anything but seemingly especially when mixed with the Ducati torque in larger engines.  Next time you're at the track take a look at the frame of the Project 848 bike in Darren's pit.



I will pass on that Mark Appleby took his 1098s out on PR and came back saying that the 1098 has much more to give in power and acceleration where the 999 series quits.