Ducati and Honda Duel for Supremacy at MotoGP’s Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
A cacophony on par with 10 million angry hornets only intensifies. Then, in an instant, 22 racers fire from their starting-grid hive with such explosive acceleration that my brain can barely process the visual before the swarm of men and machines are nearly out of sight. Looking at my wife, while suppressing the adrenaline-induced lump in my throat, I see she has tears in her eyes. Such is the emotional impact of our introduction to MotoGP, the premier motorcycle race series that makes most other motorsports seem, well, meh, by comparison.
“Goosebumps, I’ve got goosebumps,” says former GP racer Jamie Robinson, who, even after competing in the infamous Isle of Man TT, perhaps the most dangerous race in the world, still has the same primal response as the rest of us when watching MotoGP live. The blistering action marks the commencement of the 2023 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas. The contest, held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex., is the third race of the season and the only one in the US. The remaining 18 matchups will be held at tracks that vary from Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, to Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, India, to the Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria, Australia.
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The official MotoGP era began in 2002, and Honda has been the dominant force for much of the duration, garnering 12 Constructors’ Championships to date. Following well behind are Yamaha with 5 titles, and Ducati with four. Yet the latter has been on a roll in recent years, finishing at the top spot for the last three seasons—after first taking the crown in 2007—and is largely considered to have the fastest bike, at least currently. The assumption certainly seems founded, based on Ducati factory rider and 2022’s overall champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia’s win in Portugal to start the season, followed up by racer Marco Bezzecchi of satellite squad Mooney VR46 taking the next victory in Argentina.
“We are in the best moment ever for Ducati,” says Francesco Milicia, the Italian manufacturer’s global head of sales, “but racing is in the DNA of the company. [Claudio] Domenicali was the founder of Ducati Corse [the racing team] and now he is the CEO of the company, which is the best example of how much Corse is connected to normal production.”
As with the highest-levels of automotive competition, the motorcycles campaigned in MotoGP are otherworldly prototypes never to be seen on a dealer’s showroom floor, although elements often trickle down to street-legal iterations eventually. Milicia mentions how, while a MotoGP bike may cost in the neighborhood of $1.5 million to develop, a production model like the roughly $30,000 to $40,0000 Panigale is not too far off the mark in performance. He contrasts this with the gap between a Formula 1 racer and a road-going supercar. And According to Jason Chinnock, CEO of Ducati North America, “the power-to-weight ratio of a Ducati Superleggera, for example, is greater than that of a Formula 1 car—and that is a production motorcycle that somebody can own.”
As for Ducati’s track intentions, all started according to script on Saturday, as Bagnaia set a lap record for Circuit of the Americas, scorching across the 3.41-mile track in 2 minutes, 1.8920 seconds. He then won the 10-lap sprint race later in the afternoon after securing pole position for Sunday. Earning the second and third positions on the grid were Alex Rins of the LCR Honda Castrol team and Luca Marini of Mooney VR46, respectively. Yet on Sunday, after leading the first seven of 20 laps in total, Bagnaia leaned into turn No. 2 and was soon sliding across the track into the gravel behind his bike.
“For the second weekend in a row, I crashed. I can’t give myself an explanation, making it even harder to accept,” stated the 26-year-old Italian rider in the team’s official post-race release. “I made a mistake, but at the moment, I don’t know what it was. It was a very strange fall, and now I will ask the team to analyze the data well to understand what happened.”
He was not alone when it came to quick exits, however, as seven other riders were also separated from their machines at some point. In the end, Honda’s Alex Rins kept the rest of the pack behind him to finish first, despite Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales hitting the top speed of the day at 221.4 mph. Mooney VR46’s Luca Marini (also on a Ducati) finished second, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo filled the final podium spot.
After watching the field scream at approximately 200 mph along the .62-mile straightaway, it’s hard to imagine anyone watching anything else. And yet, unlike Formula 1’s recent superstardom stateside, MotoGP has not seen rampant commercial or cultural success in the US.
“When you think about why MotoGP is so popular in Spain and in Italy, you look at the grid,” says Chinnock, when asked what it will take to increase interest in the sport domestically. “Ideally, in my opinion, I’d like to see more Americans break through, and it needs to be consistent.”
That’s not to say that the relatively limited fan base in the US is not extremely avid, they are indeed, as evidenced by the throng of spectators—most adorned in the apparel of their favorite teams just like the crowds at any NFL game. In fact, one noted football enthusiast and celebrity was in attendance, comedian Bill Burr, who presented one of the trophies and had even participated in a parade lap the day before.
“I maybe have 20 hours riding a motorcycle and I haven’t ridden one in 10 years, but how do I say no,” Burr told Robb Report after piloting a Ducati Diavel twice around the track. As for what he first found compelling about MotoGP, he notes, “I started with Formula 1 . . . but there was nothing in Formula 1 that could even touch it. I mean, the Nico Rosberg-Lewis Hamilton in 2015 was fun, sort of Formula 1’s ‘Days of Thunder,’ but the MotoGP guys are just incredible. I love machines and I love watching people do stuff I’m terrified to do.”
Burr is not alone. MotoGP is the cynosure for those drawn to the heady blend of terror and enticement that defines the quest to go mind-numbingly fast. This sport captures that in its purest, most visceral, and vulnerable form. And while my wife and I won’t be 50 yards away from these guided missiles when they launch again on April 30 at the Spanish Grand Prix, we will be glued to it at home. I’ve already got goosebumps.
Click here for more photos from MotoGP’s 2023 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.
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