I didn’t watch the sprint race last night, it’s all a bit late for me these days. However, a perusal of the results this morning reveals that the Ducati domination is continuing.
After Qualifying we had 6 Ducatis in the top 10, 2 KTMs, 1 Aprilia and 1 Honda. At the end of the sprint race we had 7 Ducatis in the top 10, 2 KTMs and 1 Aprilia. Only 3 Japanese, or, perhaps we should say, non-European bikes finished in the top 15 point-scoring positions, 11th, 13th and 15th.
With the season now officially 1/3 completed there doesn’t seem to be any doubt that Ducati will steamroller the 2023 season and lead to what some are already suggesting, a possible walk-out of both Yamaha and Honda whose executives must by now be wondering why they are bothering. Far from being behind at this stage of the season as he was last year, Pecco is at his imperious best and is looking likely to rack up a record points haul before the season is over.
“Well, why can’t the Japanese factories build a better bike that can take on thee Ducatis?” you may ask. The answer is that they CAN’T. Not because they don’t WANT to, of course they do, but because they are not allowed to. Specifications of major components is frozen at the beginning of each season and only “tinkering” of the non-major mechanical parts is allowed once the last pre-season test is over.
So, like it or lump it, we are looking at the rest of the season with 8 Ducatis clobbering everyone with some bit parts being played by KTM and Aprilia.
“So, let’s slow down the Ducatis and make for a better spectacle,” some are already saying. Seems like an attractive idea, yeah, especially if, like me, you’re utterly tired of seeing your favourite riders being hosed off every time they set out on the track.
BUT, it’s nonsense, for any number of reasons. Firstly because, apart for the inexplicable situation where the Ducati engine is allowed to rev to 18000RPM and the Japanese engines are restricted to 16000RPM, the Ducatis are completely legal. There is no unfair advantage or fudging of the rules to give Ducati a “leg-up” (unlike the way that the WSBK technical regulations have always been framed and implemented to disadvantage the Japanese manufacturers). MotoGP is a prototype formula and the factory that can best take advantage of the rules, wins, it’s that simple.
Secondly, as my title suggests, Ducati are on top at the moment because they have worked hard to get there. Remember the embarrassment of them hiring Rossi all those years ago hoping that that would change their fortunes? Yeah, that worked, didn’t it? The swing has swung in their favour at the moment and, while I am not personally in favour of them having their bikes taking up a third of the available grid, they’ve spent the money and they can reap the reward.
Thirdly, it has always been and always will be a characteristic of the sport that one team or one rider dominates to the point of boredom. No amount of tinkering with the rules is ever going to stop that happening.
In the 1950s the Italian multi-cylinder bikes made mincemeat of the single cylinder opposition. Then along came the Japanese and dented the MV opposition for a while and, hey, want to talk about domination there. Honda hired ALL the best riders and chopped and changed them to ensure that they had the best chance of winning.
With the withdrawal of the Japanese factories who took their collective bats and balls and went home when the spoilsports at the FIM stopped them from fielding multi MULTI cylinder bikes, MV dominated with Agostini and later Read until the Japanese came back bigger and stronger and wiped the old-skool four stroke bikes off the board.
And it stayed that way for over a decade. In the 90s Mick Doohan (Yay, Mick) won 5 titles in succession and, most of the time, nobody saw anything more of him once the flag dropped until he came looming up behind them to lap them.
With the end of the Doohan era we entered the Rossi era and another period where the racing was predictable and, to a degree, boring, in terms of the competition anyway.
The Japanese continued to dominate into the new millennium and, apart from a “blip” when Casey Stoner won for Ducati, it has continued to be a sport that has been the playground of the rich Japanese factories.
But the roundabout has turned, as I said. The Euros are on top and the Japanese factories are facing a long period of watching the red bikes disappearing into the distance.
What is the answer? Simply put, there isn’t one. If the Euros keep spending money at the rate they are, they will stay on top. If they continue to dominate the grids, ONE of their riders is going to be world champion, it doesn’t really matter who, the factories will still benefit.
How long is this going to continue? Who knows. As long as the technical regulations remain as tight as they are no factory is going to be able to make the quantum leap that will suddenly rocket them back up to the top. Progress is now a millimetre by millimetre matter, there IS no magic bullet.
Would DORNA completely change the formula and make everyone go back to the drawing board? Of course not and why would they? They have it pretty much the way that they like it so why rock the boat?
I am tempted to say that the answer is to go back and watch WSBK except that you have to PAY to do that and it’s Formula Ducati anyway so why would you?
Change WILL come and (hopefully) the Japanese will be back on top again. As to when, who knows, but I do know one thing, it won’t be soon. The swings and the roundabouts are moving very slowly.