In recent years, Ducati has been the clear dominator of MotoGP. This year started strong again, with two wins in the first two rounds, but was not as competitive in the Americas GP – where it finished behind Aprilia and KTM.
At the moment, there are two manufacturers that seem to be clearly out of the title fight – Yamaha and especially Honda, which are still far behind the Europeans despite concessions and expected gradual progress.
At this point, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) is the championship leader. The Spanish rider has 21 points more than Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and 24 more than Maverick Viñales (Aprilia). Despite Martín’s privileged position, there are indications that the title could indeed be a real battle among the three European manufacturers.
Aprilia dominated in Austin – although it was more through Viñales, as the other riders were not as competitive. And KTM has not missed the podium yet – first with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) in Qatar and then two consecutive podiums from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3/KTM).
The season is still just beginning, and with the Spanish GP and the move to Europe, more solid indications are expected to start appearing – also due to the very peculiar circuit types visited so far.
In any case, it seems that, at this moment, there are three constructors with proven potential to fight for victories – Aprilia, KTM and, of course, Ducati, which remains the reference. Theoretically, the Borgo Panigale constructor is better positioned considering it has more teams and riders in the pack.
However, at an individual level, it will be interesting to see what the men from Aprilia and KTM can achieve. If Viñales consistently shows a level similar to that of the Americas GP, he will undoubtedly be one of the riders in the fight. And Acosta, if with only three rounds of experience in the premier class he is already leading races, as he adapts he can become an even tougher rival to beat.
That said, and despite the open fight in perspective, the favoritism will always be on Ducati’s side even at the level of riders – just saying that it has, in its ranks, the top three from last year: two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Martín and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati). Additionally, of course, Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati), who could be a kind of “dark horse” considering he is competing with last year’s bike.
