Maxim September/October 2024

The previous-gen Ducati Panigale V4 already verged on perfection. Its 1,103-cc “Desmosedici” V4 engine—so named for the desmodromic valve-timing system first implemented by Ducati in the 1950s to achieve more uniform power delivery—was developed from a prototypical race-only MotoGP powerplant. At the hands of rider Álvaro Bautista, the Panigale V4 has won the past two titles in the Superbike World Championship, the pinnacle competition series for production street bikes. It’s the two-wheeled equivalent of a Ferrari SF90 Stradale—a thoroughly race-bred machine that will test your ability at a track and then carry you home on public roads. In late July, Ducati announced the new seventh-generation Panigale V4. And the early consensus is that, even with a seemingly immaculate pedigree, the superbike has somehow gotten even better. “Ducati’s mission is to…

“I CREDIT TRAVIS KELCE AND HIS MANAGERS FOR MAKING ME A MANAGER” “I just don’t have it in me to quit. I’ve always been willing to take risks, take chances. And I was never really scared of much.” This statement reflects the mind frame that might propel an athlete to the peak of their game or drive an ambitious young professional to step off the corporate ladder and create their own company. The speaker, Meg Stewart, has done both. The president and co-founder of Los Angeles–based Hour 1 Talent & Sports was telling Maxim about her decision to continue playing goalkeeper for the Southern Methodist University Mustangs after undergoing surgeries on her shoulders. Immediately after her four-year NCAA Division 1 soccer career concluded, Stewart put her film degree to good…

Exactly one member of the 2023–24 NBA rookie class had built a legacy long before entering the league: Skechers. Last fall, the Los Angeles–based footwear giant launched its inaugural line of technical basketball shoes: the SKX Resagrip and SKX Float. To usher the kicks onto the court, Skechers tapped Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Terance Mann and New York Knicks power forward Julius Randle. The standout starters’ consistently great performances helped lead their respective teams to the 2024 NBA playoffs, during which the Clippers clinched their first division title since 2014. Mann, who donned the speed-centric SKX Resagrip low-top last year, is poised to play in the yet-released Skechers Nexus, a court shoe featuring supportive Skechers Move Foam, a breathable mesh upper, lockdown ankle support and a grippy rubber outsole,…

“I LOVE A LITTLE DANGER, BUT IN A SAFE WAY” Sometimes teenage dreams come true. Growing up in Rhinebeck, New York, Caroline Silta watched “America’s Next Top Model” on TV and hoped she would end up in fashion magazines one day. Since breaking into the business at age 16 on the pages of “Teen Vogue,” the redheaded beauty has appeared on the covers of “Marie Claire UK” and “Harper’s Bazaar HK,” among other glossy publications. She’s also been the face of campaigns for top brands, including Uniqlo, Fleur du Mal, American Eagle Outfitters and Rebecca Minkoff. Silta (the name is Finnish) says that seeing her freckled face sky high on billboards in Times Square and hitting the runway for New York Fashion Week are pinch-me career highlights. The self-proclaimed Swiftie…

The story of the landmark Dino is one of bloodlines, legacy, triumph and grief. You could start the tale with the shocking debut of the Lamborghini Miura at the Turin Auto Show in 1965, a concept car so revolutionary it stunned the populace dumb and introduced the Raging Bull from Sant’Agata as a legitimate contender to Enzo Ferrari’s undisputed heavyweight crown. Widely considered the world’s first supercar, the mid-engine layout of the Miura was a warning shot to its neighbors from Maranello who had only produced front-engine street cars until then. But the story probably more accurately begins a decade earlier with the “Dino V6,” Ferrari’s first V6 engine envisioned by Enzo’s son Alfredo. A promising engineer in his own right, “Dino” Ferrari convened with legendary engineer Vittorio Jano to…

At 116 miles per hour, it feels as if the Ferrari Purosangue has barely broken a gallop. Supremely stable, quiet and agile, there’s so much power to be had from the 720 horses beneath the hood that this humble speed is a mere warm-up. I want to go faster, my passenger wants to go faster, even the car wants to go faster, but that’s all I’ll be able to achieve because this is Formula One weekend in Montreal and the traffic is brutal. I’m on my way to see one of the most important people in motorsport today, who races for one of the most important teams in the history of motorsport. Confidently navigating the streets, highways and bridges of Montreal, out to the picturesque river island where the Circuit…