MotoGP has been an expensive sport with millions of euros spent on development and maintenance of the handcrafted racing machinery. Machines like the Yamaha YZR-M1, Ducati Desmosedici and Honda's RC213V are lent to privateer or satellite teams on a contract basis every season. Let's take a sneak peek at the changing trend in the satellite teams' machinery.
The Hondas have been known for their firebreathing V engines right from the two stroke era, right from the NS500 V3 to the current RC213V. They dominated the Premier class for almost a decade until the Italian Doctor (Valentino Rossi) decided to spoil their party. Though Nicky Hayden won them a championship in 2006, it wasn't until 2011 with Casey Stoner's #27 on the Repsol Honda, Honda returned to winning ways, winning the last title in the 800cc era and laid a strong base for its successor- The RC213V, which won two consecutive championships with Rookie Marc Marquez before hitting a wall of problems with their 2015 machine.
On the other hand, Ducati has been a master of V twins (or L-Twins considering the way the 90 degree twin engine looks) and Desmodromic valve-trains. They've coupled the most radical Twin Pulse firing order (similar to 2 500cc V-twins working in harmony) and the highly noisy yet reliable desmodromic valve-train to create a bike that won eleven races in 2007- the Desmosedici GP7.
Ducati's fortune started to spiral downhill with chatter and understeer issues until 2013, when Filippo Preziosi (The father of the original Desmosedici) made way for Luigi "Gigi" Dall'lgna as the chief engineer at Borgo Panigale. Gigi radically developed the physically demanding GP14.2 into a Phenomenal GP15 and the GP16.
Honda has been a fanatic of high horsepower engines, which was a pain to setup for the satellite teams. The Machines have been tailor made for their factory front-runners and thus Honda tend to ignore the feedback provided by the satellite riders. Riders like Scott Redding who had immense potential failed to impress the masses though he had access to a Factory RC213V similar to what the "factory aliens" possess.
Their Open class program has been a disaster, with Forward Racing Yamaha winning it in 2014 and Avintia Ducati winning it in 2015. Though the Honda RCV1000R (aka RC213V-RS) is the same bike, albeit the lack of a Seamless Shift Gearbox and lack of support from the factory meant that the bikes finished as backmarkers (Ahead of Alex de Angelis on the ART of course!).
RELATED ARTICLE: MotoGP Insight: All You Need To Know About Seamless Shift Gearbox
The scene at Ducati has been entirely opposite to that at Honda. Their Open class Desmosedici GP14 had a powerful engine and a Seamless Shift Gearbox and the riders enjoyed riding it in-spite of the Understeer issue it possessed which made it an absolutely physical bike to ride. With Ducati's technicians covering all the Ducati teams for feedback and providing solutions for the issues they've encountered, life with Ducati felt good for many satellite and open teams.
This resulted in Jorge Martinez "Aspar" and Fausto Gresini, who ran Honda machinery till 2015 and 2014 respectively to switch manufacturers. Aspat will run Ducati GP14.2's for the 2016 season, whereas Fausto's Gresini MotoGP will be a Factory Aprilia entry for the 2016 season, resulting in no RC213V-RS' on the grid for 2016.
The number of Ducati's on the grid has increased from 6 to a whopping 8, whereas Honda now has only Five machines lined up for the grid.
By: Suraj
*** The writer with his favorite MotoGP machine: The Honda RC213V.
The Hondas have been known for their firebreathing V engines right from the two stroke era, right from the NS500 V3 to the current RC213V. They dominated the Premier class for almost a decade until the Italian Doctor (Valentino Rossi) decided to spoil their party. Though Nicky Hayden won them a championship in 2006, it wasn't until 2011 with Casey Stoner's #27 on the Repsol Honda, Honda returned to winning ways, winning the last title in the 800cc era and laid a strong base for its successor- The RC213V, which won two consecutive championships with Rookie Marc Marquez before hitting a wall of problems with their 2015 machine.
*** Casey Stoner on the Honda RC212V.
On the other hand, Ducati has been a master of V twins (or L-Twins considering the way the 90 degree twin engine looks) and Desmodromic valve-trains. They've coupled the most radical Twin Pulse firing order (similar to 2 500cc V-twins working in harmony) and the highly noisy yet reliable desmodromic valve-train to create a bike that won eleven races in 2007- the Desmosedici GP7.
Ducati's fortune started to spiral downhill with chatter and understeer issues until 2013, when Filippo Preziosi (The father of the original Desmosedici) made way for Luigi "Gigi" Dall'lgna as the chief engineer at Borgo Panigale. Gigi radically developed the physically demanding GP14.2 into a Phenomenal GP15 and the GP16.
*** Casey Stoner- Ducati's golden boy on the Championship winning Desmo GP7
Honda has been a fanatic of high horsepower engines, which was a pain to setup for the satellite teams. The Machines have been tailor made for their factory front-runners and thus Honda tend to ignore the feedback provided by the satellite riders. Riders like Scott Redding who had immense potential failed to impress the masses though he had access to a Factory RC213V similar to what the "factory aliens" possess.
Their Open class program has been a disaster, with Forward Racing Yamaha winning it in 2014 and Avintia Ducati winning it in 2015. Though the Honda RCV1000R (aka RC213V-RS) is the same bike, albeit the lack of a Seamless Shift Gearbox and lack of support from the factory meant that the bikes finished as backmarkers (Ahead of Alex de Angelis on the ART of course!).
RELATED ARTICLE: MotoGP Insight: All You Need To Know About Seamless Shift Gearbox
The scene at Ducati has been entirely opposite to that at Honda. Their Open class Desmosedici GP14 had a powerful engine and a Seamless Shift Gearbox and the riders enjoyed riding it in-spite of the Understeer issue it possessed which made it an absolutely physical bike to ride. With Ducati's technicians covering all the Ducati teams for feedback and providing solutions for the issues they've encountered, life with Ducati felt good for many satellite and open teams.
*** That moment when you switch teams but your bike tags along! (Yonny Hernandez)
This resulted in Jorge Martinez "Aspar" and Fausto Gresini, who ran Honda machinery till 2015 and 2014 respectively to switch manufacturers. Aspat will run Ducati GP14.2's for the 2016 season, whereas Fausto's Gresini MotoGP will be a Factory Aprilia entry for the 2016 season, resulting in no RC213V-RS' on the grid for 2016.
The number of Ducati's on the grid has increased from 6 to a whopping 8, whereas Honda now has only Five machines lined up for the grid.
By: Suraj