The 2015 MotoGP season got off to a cracking start at Qatar on Sunday and almost as much of the chatter around the event was about Ducati's competitiveness as it was about seven-time premier class champion Valentino Rossi's victory on board a Yamaha after a tense battle with Ducati's Adnrea Dovizioso.
However factors like a mistake by Honda's Marc Marquez on the opening lap that forced him to run wide and then Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo's vision being impaired by a piece of padding in his helmet could have also contributed to Ducati's double podium finish behind Rossi. Whether Ducati can give the Japanese bikes a run for their money or beat them this year remains to be seen but there is no denying that pole position and a second and third place finish would be a morale booster for the Italian team.
Rossi's fighting win from a poor starting grid position - much like when he fought to a close second place at last year's event - ahead of the team with whom he endured two nightmarish and winless seasons could still be an indicator as to how successful Ducati will be in unseating the Japanese marque.
SIZE MATTERS IN MOTOGP
Without a headline grabbing talent like Casey Stoner, the going has been difficult but MotoGP legend Giacomo Agostini (winner of 122 Grands Prix in two classes from 1964 to 1976) believes the odds are even further stacked against Ducati because of the huge investment required by a factory team to win consistently.
"The Japanese teams are part of a big company," Agostini told autoX when he was in New Delhi around two weeks before the start of the MotoGP season. "The Japanese make a lot of motorbikes so they have the power to have a big racing division.
"For us (Italian bike manufacturers) it is difficult as we are too small compared to the Japanese companies. There is so much technology on these MotoGP bikes that you need to sell a lot of bikes to maintain racing divisions like those of Yamaha and Honda."
Agostini believes that the stark difference in how much more Yamaha, for example (a constructor with which Agostini has had great success and admits to wanting to be associated with) is able to sell its bikes in Italy alone, Agostini's native country.
"In Italy a company like Ducati or Aprilia make less than a thousand, maybe even 500 motorbikes a day," said Agostini. "Yamaha makes 12,000 a day!"
PROPHETICALLY HOPEFUL?
Although Agostini, who due to his stature in motorcycle grand prix racing history, seemed to know that Ducati had made enough progress to give Yamaha and Honda a good fight.
"But even though it is a small company to the Japanese Ducati do very well now," said Agostini. "This year's bike handles better and is fast. I don't know if this is enough to beat the Japanese but they are coming very close."
Dovizioso's Ducati crossed the line in Qatar just 0.174 seconds behind Rossi's winning Yamaha. He may be retired but Agostini definitely knows a thing or two (putting it mildly) about MotoGP. Now it remains to be seen if Ducati have that little extra something to not only beat Rossi and Yamaha but also resist Honda and the undoubtedly upset double world champion Marquez.
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