All MotoGP fans know that Ducati is currently the dominant force in the championship. The Borgo Panigale company has worked hard, with great riders and technical figures such as Gigi Dall'Igna, to once again win the premier class title, which it had lacked since the 2007 season, when Casey Stoner gave the brand its first title.
Ducati finally achieved its goal in 2022, thanks to Pecco Bagnaia's crown after a superb second part of the season, which marked the true start of the Italian brand's dominance, not only in the general classification, but also in terms of victories and of pole position. In 2023 the same trend was repeated, with Bagnaia and Jorge Martin competing for the title in the last race of the year.
Meanwhile, Ducati has accumulated several consecutive victories in the long races on Sunday, to the point that in next weekend's GP of the Americas, the Bolognese manufacturer would be able to equal the all-time MotoGP record, not counting the Sprints, which have a separate statistic.
You have to go back to the 2023 Catalan Grand Prix to find Ducati's last defeat on a Sunday. On that occasion, it was Aleix Espargara who dominated on home soil throughout the weekend, before finishing the job in the main race aboard the Aprilia. Since then, Ducati has scored 11 victories in a row, just one shy of the all-time record in the MotoGP era (since 2002), which belongs to Honda.
The golden wing brand achieved a total of 12 consecutive victories in the 2014 season, that of Marc Marquez's legendary start. On his way to his fourth world title (second in MotoGP), the Spaniard started the championship with 10 consecutive victories, in Qatar, Austin, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, Catalonia, the Netherlands, Germany and Indianapolis. After the American round, the Cervera native failed to win in the Czech Republic, but was beaten by his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Then Marquez won again in Great Britain and finally Valentino Rossi put an end to the winning streak, triumphing with Yamaha at Misano.
Marc Márquez, achieved his tenth consecutive victory in Indianápolis 2014
In the case of Ducati, six riders contributed to the 11 victories: Martin with four (Misano, Motegi and Buriram in 2023, plus Portimao in 2024), Bagnaia with three (Mandalika and Valencia in 2023, plus Losail in 2024), and with one each Marco Bezzecchi (Buddh 2023), Johann Zarco (Phillip Island 2023), Enea Bastianini (Sepang 2023) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Losail 2023).
Therefore, Ducati has a great opportunity in Austin to take their twelfth victory. It must be said, however, that to date he has only achieved one victory on this circuit, that of Enea Bastianini in 2022, because then in 2023 Honda's only victory came with Alex Rins.
Of course, on the other side, the factory has the great dominator of this circuit, Marc Marquez. The Spaniard won all the races held at COTA between 2013, the year of the first edition of the GP of the Americas, and 2021, with the exception of 2019, where Rins won again with Suzuki (in 2020 it was not held due to COVID-19 pandemic). The eight-time world champion will be one of the great favorites to match, ironically, the legacy he himself left behind at HRC, although if he does so now it will not be as an official Ducati rider, but with a Desmosedici GP satellite of the Gresini Racing.
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