Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
Ducati’s Backward Step
Motorcycle racing has always been a technical sport. That’s obvious and indivisible. But the machinery isn’t everything. A good rider can potentially get more out of an average bike than the other way round—an average rider on a good bike.
Talent will win out. That’s why it’s a genuine sport, rather than just a mechanical tug-of-war. As Marc Marquez continues to demonstrate.
These things seem obvious. Yet as technology has advanced, hand in hand with rules that seek to equalize that technology by manifold restrictions—fixed cylinder size and numbers, spec electronics and control tires—some differences that should seem to have been ironed out have instead magnified.
Take the recent Austrian GP. The difference between Marquez’s winning Ducati and third-placed Bezzecchi’s Aprilia was less than 3.5 seconds after 28 laps and 75.6 miles, just over a tenth of a second per lap. (I choose the third finisher for reasons that will become clear.)
Yet, the best Yamaha, in a woeful weekend for the formerly sporadically dominant Japanese factory, was that of Fabio Quartararo, who was 15th and fourth from last (three other Yamahas behind him), a massive 25.25 seconds down. He’d lost all but a full second every lap.
The Ducati and Yamaha differ mainly in that the former is a V4 and the latter an L4 but might have been racing in different classes.
In this case, however, it is not the riders making the difference. Granted, Marc Marquez operates on a higher plane at present, but former World Champion Quartararo is anything but average. Indeed, he’s overcome Yamaha’s technical weaknesses to the extent of four pole positions and two podium finishes this year. Blame it more on an unforgiving stop-and-go track, which negates cornering prowess in favor of braking and acceleration, the Yamaha’s weakest suits.
But the point of this column, and the reason for first comparing Marc’s race with that of the third-place Aprilia, is the performance difference not between different bikes but similar ones.
In particular, Ducatis.
Marc rides the latest version, the GP25. Two others have this machine: factory Lenovo-squad teammate Pecco Bagnaia and satellite VR46-team rider Fabio Di Giannantonio. Bagnaia is a triple champion, twice in MotoGP and once in Moto2; Diggia is not so decorated, but is still a MotoGP race winner in all three classes, and a fancied runner.
Yet neither has been anywhere near Marc. Bagnaia finds himself all at sea on the new bike, unable to reproduce his race performances from last year. In Austria, his 2024 time would have put him second to Marc by less than two-tenths of a second. This year, he was a disappointing eighth, 12.4 seconds away. Diggia has twice been second, but even before the summer break his results had slumped.
Marc’s main Ducati opposition, both in Austria and in the championship, has come from satellite-team riders on last year’s GP24. Younger brother Alex is second in the championship and at most races this year, while the latest challenge comes from Alex’s Gresini-squad teammate, Austria’s second-placed 20-year-old rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Both have been somewhat surprising. Alex is a former Moto3 and Moto2 Champion, but his four MotoGP years have not been particularly brilliant.
Aldeguer even more so. After a disappointingly patchy four seasons in Moto2, a best of only third overall in spite of eight race wins, the bright hope has taken to the big bikes in the manner born. His strong suit, strong enough to give Marc some worries, is tire management, leading to devastating late-race pace. His results this year, two Sprint plus one wet and now one dry main-race podiums, have all come by forging past much more experienced riders in the closing laps, and would surely have been better had he been able to qualify further up the grid.
There is only one conclusion to be drawn. The latest GP25 is not as good a motorcycle as the GP24 it replaced. It has taken the skill of Marc Marquez to make it a race-winner. A rider who won six World Championships over seven years riding a Honda that was increasingly less competitive, and downright difficult to ride. Nobody other than Marc could get anything like the same results, and both he and his fellow Honda riders suffered a huge number of crashes that eventually gave him the injury that caused a five-year hiatus and departure to Ducati, thanks to a troublesome right-arm fracture.
Ducati has led technical development in MotoGP for the past four years or more. Director Gigi Dall’Igna’s adventurous games with the rules have changed the sport, introduced aerodynamics and ride-height devices, and left rivals scrabbling to keep up.
But it looks like the 2025 bike has been a misstep that only Marc can overcome.
If nothing else, it will give hope to the beleaguered Japanese rivals.CN
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