Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1475091
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 2, 2022 P133 and very rapid valve opening and closing, especially at high revs. It all adds up to horsepower. Dall'Igna didn't stop there. Ducati combined their enviable engine with a raft of innovations to the cycle parts. Ducati was the first with wings and continue to set the pace with aerodynam- ics. They were the first with the "spoon" ahead of the rear wheel—nominally to cool the tire, but also with aero benefits. And they were the first not only with shape-shifting launch control, but also to introduce it to both ends of the bike, and to allow riders to operate it during the race rather than just off the start line. In every, case rivals have tried to thwart them, then copied them—at least until this year, when protests forced a ban on "any device that modifies or ad- justs the motorcycle's front ride height while it is moving." Responding to the ban, sport- ing director Paolo Ciabatti made clear the company's disappoint- ment. The investment in time and money was "fully compatible with our budget. Some manufac- turers spend high amounts on their riders. It's up to them. But they should not criticize when we spend money on develop- ment." All this makes it very clear. Ducati's main emphasis is on engineering. But back to the light bulbs. The Bologna firm has a dazzling array—eight riders is at least double any other constructor, and in the case of Suzuki and Aprilia four times as many. Trouble is, almost all of them are 200-watters. Every Ducati rider has won at least one grand prix, and half of them have won in the premier class. Four of them—Bagnaia, Bastianini, Mar- tin and Zarco—are former World Champions. Small wonder that they take points away from one another at every race. Seems that Honda may have played the light-bulb strategy better. By and large, at least since the long-distant days when Wayne Gardner and Eddie Law- son disputed the 1989 title on rival Rothmans-backed NSRs, they concentrate on just one very bright bulb. They won the majority of riders' titles over the past four decades with a steady succession of genius-level stars. Spencer, Doohan, Rossi, Marquez—a burning-bright array. But this strategy has its own risks, and it has cost them dear for three seasons now. The absence of arc-lamp Marc Mar- quez meant a historic zero wins in 2020, only a handful in 2021, and a 2022 where the prospect of another winless season has been compounded by a German GP with not even a single point— a first since 1982. But Honda is not alone in this. Just one race after that German round, Yamaha followed suit— Quartararo crashed out, and the other three riders failed to score a single point. The best of them, Dovizioso, missed out by three full seconds. This was another downbeat landmark—the first time without a single Yamaha in the points since 1985. Should Quartararo get hurt, Yamaha will find themselves in a very deep hole. Seven spare light bulbs might be too many, it helps to have at least one in the cupboard. If you can find one. Ducati's light bulbs clearly undermine each other's title chances. But the factory engi- neers can at least gloat about the near certainty of a third suc- cessive constructors' crown. CN "For Honda, riders are like light bulbs. When one burns out, you chuck it out and screw in a new one." Valentino was determined to prove that it was the rider that made the difference, not the bike. Four more championships proved his point.