Their 2025 (and by regulation
also 2026) bike is inferior to the
one it replaces. Giving suppos-
edly second-string riders an ad-
vantage over the select factory
favorites.
There's more. While it was
Bezzecchi's Aprilia that pre-
vailed at Silverstone, two weeks
after Zarco's
surprise Honda
win at Le Mans, the victory
should have belonged to the
other down-at-heel Japanese
factory. Yamaha's Quartararo
had seized total control after a
third consecutive unexpected
pole, exploiting an adventurous
soft-tire gamble to gallop into
the distance. Victory seemed
assured, until his R1's freak fail
-
ure—the rear ride-height device
failed, a first-ever
problem for
W
hat comes around goes
around. Apparently.
Inspiration for those
on the back foot, a caution for
anyone riding high.
It looks like it might be go
-
ing around in MotoGP. Even as
Honda
and Aprilia upset Ducati's
stranglehold by winning consec
-
utive races, Ducati themselves
seem
to have taken a misstep.
P148
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
T H E R I S E A N D F A L L O F
DUCATI'S GP25
It's obvious that
Ducati's GP25 isn't
as good as the GP24,
but is it still good
enough?
