‘Will the red tide swamp itself?’
Modern dumb-down MotoGP regs had one main aim… to level the playing field. In this way, more manufacturers would be attracted. And it worked. (Except for Suzuki, obviously.)
The plan failed to take account of another sporting cliché. The one about moving the goalposts.
The Sepang tests were a textbook example. While all the others have been polishing their acts, quite impressively in some cases, Ducati have been busy with the heavy earth-moving equipment.
It was a fast three days. All 23 runners were inside the race lap record; and the top 10 inside Bagnaia’s best-so-far pole last year of 1’57.491. The real elite were in the 1’56 bracket – four of them: Bagnaia, Martin, Bastianini and Alex Marquez.
It will not escape your attention that all were on Ducatis, the first three on the latest model. Of the top 10 times, six were set by
Desmosedici riders. Best of the rest: Espargaro’s Aprilia in fifth, Binder’s KTM in seventh, with rookie Pedro Acosta ninth, and Joan Mir top Honda in 10th.
Mir was the biggest improver, compared with last season’s qualifying time – the latest powerup weight-down RC213V better than a second faster. Well done, Honda. But he was still some seven tenths off the pace.
An ominous domination by the red bikes. Yet rivals might salvage a scrap of hope from a further cliché… too many cooks spoil the broth, or is that minestrone?
Last year Bagnaia and Martin took most of the points. This year they’re both right on it again. But not alone. Second factory rider Bastianini (third at Sepang) has recovered from his injury-triggered disastrous 2023. Alex Marquez (fourth) has gained strength race by race, while surprise Qatar winner Di Giannantonio (eighth) ran a mighty impressive race simulation.
Plus – and it’s a big one – Marc Marquez (sixth) is on a Duke too.
With this lot taking points away from one another, will there be room for a sneaky KTM to grab some high scores?
‘Will there be room for a sneaky KTM?’