The Everest in front of Yamaha

Last weekend’s race served to examines numerically the titanic challenge Yamaha faces to become fully competitive againie, for reach the Ducati level. The situation is likely same with Hondabut the fact that Fabio Quartararo setting the pole in Buriram in 2019, it saw how much Yamaha’s speed has improved since then, and compare it to Ducati… And the numbers are alarming, very alarming for the Japanese brand.

In 2019, Quartararo set pole, stopping the clock at 1.29’719; Last weekend the best Yamaha, Fabio, qualified for the grid with a time of 1.29’408; his position, sixth.

In 2019, the best Ducati place on the grid was Danilo Petrucci, then a Team Ducati factory rider. He was fifth with a fast lap of 1.30’522; This Saturday Pecco Bagnaia broke the track record to take pole position with a time of 1.28’700.

That means, while from 2019 to 2024 Yamaha only improved by more than three tenths, in the same period Ducati did it in 1,822 seconds!… the difference is staggering. I imagine that there may be details that blur this gap, but however many nuances there are, The difference between Yamaha’s evolution and Ducati’s Desmosedici is huge against the Japanese brand. And as said before, if we make the comparison with Honda, the result is definitely similar.

Reading this comparison is on the task of returning to competitiveness undertaken The Yamaha had to make up a second and a half from the Ducatiand it didn’t improve its speed… Is it possible?… We’re talking about a second and a half!

Personally, I have my doubts. I fully subscribe to Marc Márquez’s words after last Sunday’s race. “Why do you think I decided to switch to Ducati? I have said many times: Ducati is the best motorcycle and will continue to be for the next two years.… That means, until the technical regulations change.