Ducati's dominance in MotoGP has coincided with a decline for Japanese manufacturers Honda and Yamaha. While Honda struggled after Marc Marquez's injury, Yamaha's performance also waned. Both brands have made significant strides in recent months, with Honda seemingly closing the gap on Yamaha.
Ducati 's rise to the top of the MotoGP standings has coincided with the fall of Japanese giants Honda and Yamaha . Long the championship's dominant force, both have gradually slipped down the order and are now battling to avoid finishing last. Honda 's dominance ended abruptly when Marc Marquez suffered career-altering injuries at the start of the 2020 season, leading to fewer victories and podiums. In 2024, its two teams failed to finish inside the top five in a single grand prix.
At Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo won the title in 2021 and remained in contention against Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia the following year, but cracks were already appearing. Last year, even podiums were out of reach for the Frenchman. The decline in Honda and Yamaha's fortunes is attributed to their reluctance to make drastic changes to their programs. However, things have begun to change, with Yamaha appointing former Ducati man Max Bartolini as its technical director and Honda hiring Romano Albesiano from Aprilia. MotoGP has also responded by adjusting its concession system to offer more development freedom, though with limited results so far. Nevertheless, Yamaha and Honda showed encouraging signs in the latter part of the season, fighting back into the top 10. Honda, with only 26 points in the first 10 rounds, added 49 in the second half. Yamaha's results also improved, but by a smaller margin, scoring 57 points in the first half and 67 in the second. By analyzing the fastest lap times set by their leading riders in main practice, a similar trend emerges in 2024. In the first half of the year, Yamaha's best-placed rider had an average deficit of 0.78% to the overall leader, which marginally increased to 0.79% after the Austrian GP. At Honda, the gap reduced from 1.17% to 0.86% after the midpoint of the year. Honda made the biggest progress in 2024 over a single lap, but Yamaha remains ahead. Both Honda and Yamaha made significant leaps from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the 14th round of the season, following the in-season Misano test. Yamaha benefited from Quartararo's experience, while Honda struggled with both Joan Mir and Luca Marini. In the championship standings, Yamaha ended the year with 124 points compared to 75 for Honda. However, Quartararo believes Honda now has a technical advantage over Yamaha. Towards the end of the season, he observed significant differences, particularly on tracks with few fast corners. Rins, who switched from Honda to Yamaha in 2024, also felt the Honda had 'better cornering grip, better traction and more top speed'. Marini felt Yamaha had an advantage at the start of the season but Honda made greater progress. He acknowledged that Yamaha's head start and Quartararo's experience gave them an edge
Motogp Honda Yamaha Ducati Performance Development Quartararo Mir Marquez
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