Dominant Ducati: Can any maker challenge all-conquering Italian bike?
After a Ducati bike won 19 of the 20 rounds of the 2024 MotoGP season, the big question is whether its rivals can make up ground on the Italian manufacturer that has won the last five constructors' titles with ever-increasing dominance.
When Ducati claimed the title in 2020, it beat Yamaha by 17 points. This season, Ducati won 722 points and sealed the constructors' title with six rounds to spare.
The next best manufacturer was KTM with 327.
Having more bikes on the grid than any other constructor has also helped, but Ducati had the superior machine in all aspects, with six different riders achieving 53 podiums this year.
Although the factory team missed out on the riders' championship when Francesco Bagnaia failed to accomplish a three-peat with the Desmosedici GP24, his rival Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing — riding the same bike — showed it was virtually untouchable.
Together, Martin and Bagnaia smashed lap records across circuits around the world and took the title battle to the final round, where Martin clinched his maiden MotoGP crown after falling short at the same stage a year ago.
The GP24 was way ahead of any other bike, and it was six-time MotoGP champion thanks to Marc Marquez's skills on the older GP23 in his debut season on a Ducati, which enabled him to finish third in the standings and earn a move to the factory team next year.
"It was a stratospheric year for Ducati," Ducati general manager Luigi Dall'Igna said. "We broke the record for victories and the record for podiums, with the cherry on top of having placed eight Desmosedici GPs in front of everyone in the sprint race in Thailand."
Ducati's superior top speed and its aero package have left Yamaha and Honda far behind. Despite MotoGP's concessions, the Japanese manufacturers have been unable to catch up.
For the first time in over half a century, no Japanese bike won a Grand Prix, while the best rider with a Japanese constructor was Yamaha's 2021 MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo, who finished the season 13th in the standings.
