Ducati’s dominance in MotoGP is such that it overshadowed the notable advances made by Yamaha and, to a lesser extent, Honda at Misano. These two manufacturers, although still far behind the Italian brand, are showing encouraging signs of progress, bringing them closer to Aprilia and KTM, their main competitors outside the “Ducati Cup”.
In Misano, Fabio Quartararo has regularly been the best non-Ducati rider, within a whisker of overtaking even some of the Italian bikes. Only running out of gas two bends from the finish prevented him from getting a fifth place which would have crowned his efforts. The Frenchman showed great consistency in qualifying, finishing second in EL2 just four thousandths of a second behind Pedro Acosta. Already on Friday, he had set the best time among the non-Ducati bikes.
Despite the absence ofAlex Rinssick, the only one Yamaha on the track managed to distance the Aprilia and to follow the KTM. These results indicate that the improvements made are beginning to bear fruit. In addition, the upcoming arrival of the
V4 enginewhich promises a significant evolution of the YZR-M1, could well mark a decisive turning point for the Iwata team.
At the house of Hondathe progress is more modest but just as real. Joan Mir achieved his best result of the season with an 11th place at
Misanoin front Luca Marini and some Aprilia satellites. While not a major accomplishment, it does demonstrate some improvement, particularly in terms of consistency and competitiveness against KTMwhich seemed unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
At Misano, it had been a long time since KTM and Aprilia had seen Yamaha and Honda so closely.
In Aragon, Johann Zarco has succeeded for the first time in qualifying a Honda in Q2and in Misano, he was just a hair’s breadth away from repeating this feat by finishing twelfth. This progress, although still insufficient to worry the leaders, shows that the Japanese brand is starting to get its head above water.
The domination of
Ducati is so overwhelming that it creates a sort of “parallel division” within MotoGP. With five Desmosedici in the top five positions at Misano, Ducati
seems to play in another category. However, this superiority is beginning to be challenged by the progress of Yamahaand to a lesser extent by those of Honda.
If the “Ducati Cup” remains a reality for now, the competition could become more balanced in the coming competitions, especially if the Japanese manufacturers continue on this path of improvement. Yamaha
appears poised to close some of the gap, while
Honda shows signs of a still timid but promising recovery. The rest of the season, with the races in Asia, could provide more answers on the ability of these teams to compete sustainably if not with the Borgo Panigale machines, at least with the two other European manufacturers.
