Ducati has very limited options to develop its MotoGP bike under the new concessions system. However, even in the second half of the season, the effect on the results is not visible.
In fact, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer has only lost one Grand Prix so far (Maverick Viñales from Aprilia won in Austin). Ducati frequently monopolizes the top positions.
Indeed, in the last eight rounds, the Desmosedici GP23 and GP24 have always occupied at least all the podium places, and in only one round did fewer than four Ducatis finish in the top four positions.
Discussing the importance of tyres on the performance of current bikes, Jorge Lorenzo said on the podcast Dura la Vita that the Ducati bike could have the same superiority with different tyres: ‘I think Ducati is so complete that it would dominate just the same with a Michelin tyre or a Pirelli tyre. There are eight consecutive Ducati triples’.
According to Rúben Xaus, the competitiveness of Ducati riders and their numbers also influence this: ‘Ducati has been better at applying the technique to this bike, but there is an explanation. When you have eight riders so far ahead, very different from each other, with different riding styles, and all fast, it creates a tendency for the tyre to develop in that riding style, and everyone has to force themselves to follow those lines to be as fast as them. Look at [Fabio] Quartararo or the Hondas, who struggle, follow the same lines as the Ducatis, but are forced to do so because otherwise, they wonyt be fast’.