EXPERT OPINION

MAT OXLEY

‘Left playing catch-up’ Last season was the first time since 1970 that the Japanese manufacturers didn't win any MotoGP races. So where did it all go wrong? Ducati started transforming MotoGP into motorcycling Formula 1 in 2016 with downforce wings, which were followed by the tuned mass damper, the holeshot device, the ride-height adjuster and ground-effect diffusers. From the very beginning of this new era, senior Japanese MotoGP engineers announced that they didn't want to go down this road. “Our opinion is that we want to develop technology that can be transferred to street bikes, because this is one of the main reasons we go racing,” HRC technical manager Takeo Yokoyama told me in 2019. By the time Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha realised they had no choice but to travel…

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MCN (Digital) - 1 Issue, 3 January 2025

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