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After the first four rounds of the year, it is Ducati that looks down on everyone in the championship standings. First in the Riders' World Championship with Francesco Bagnaia, who returned to the top by overtaking Marco Bezzecchi, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer dominates the Constructors' standings with 137 points, 56 ahead of KTM, also topping the team standings, where the Mooney VR46 Team is managed to maintain the leadership with a two-point margin over the buccaneering KTM factory team.
A domination that comes as no surprise to five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo, as he himself admitted in a chat with MotoGP.com, in which he explained the reasons that led him to embrace the Ducati project in 2017, after nine seasons, and three World Championships, in MotoGP with Yamaha.
“I think in general Ducati has done a great job in the last 5-7 years, making the bike the best on the grid. Having a lot of bikes, teams and many young and very talented riders. They’ve got eight riders that can make podiums, make pole positions and can win races and that makes it very hard for other factories to fight with them,” analysed the 36-year-old.
The litmus test of the Italian manufacturer's progress is the feat of the Mooney team, which has already achieved four podiums and a victory in these first four rounds of the year.
“The VR46 team is a really strong team, with a bike that is almost the same as the factory team. No one would have expected Bezzecchi to be at the top of the championship and Luca Marini isn't that far off either. Valentino must be very happy" Lorenzo commented, then explaining the reasons that seven years ago led him to join up with the men in Red: "I made a risky bet at the time, going from Yamaha - with which I was winning a lot and which historically has always been one of the best teams in the world together with Honda – to Ducati, they had never won only in 2007 with Stoner. But I knew that Gigi Dall'Igna would be able to do it and that's why I made this bet - commented the Majorcan - Dall'Igna in everything he has started, has accomplished his dream, his target and everything he started and he made the same with the Ducati. More or less I knew it was going to happen and it's a great pity it didn't happen when I was there. Sometimes things are like that"
Lorenzo's opinion on the Yamaha crisis.
A moment, the one experienced by Ducati, diametrically opposed to what Yamaha is going through, bringing up the rear in the Constructors' World Championship, with 49 points, one podium and no wins. The Iwata company is facing many problems and difficulties, starting with the engine shortcomings of the M1.
“Yamaha have never had the best or most powerful engine. Never in its history, also because the way the engine is made is not ideal to have maximum power. However, this gives the bike some good characteristics, such as more stability and agility when cornering, which make it easier for the rider - observed Lorenzo - In the last couple of years, they lose a vit their strong points, but they didn’t get what they needed from the engine for the power and acceleration”.
A situation that Jorge regrets, convinced that he has much more than Cal Crutchlow to offer the Japanese factory.
“The current bike doesn’t have the strong points like before. I'm not saying it's terrible bike, because I'm sure it's competitive enough, but not enough to fight for the title. Especially when you have Pecco Bagnaia, and seven more Ducati riders, and also strong new brands, such as KTM and Aprilia. Looks like they have lost their way a bit and it's a pity, because I know the bike a lot and I think that, riding for them as a test rider, I could have helped them to find the way for the evolution of the bike - said the Spaniard - But now they have a different test rider and from the outside it looks like they have lost a bit the way. Let's hope they find it in the future, like Honda."
