Pecco Bagnaia claimed his first MotoGP win two weeks ago at Aragón , when he beat Marc Márquez’s Honda in a thrilling duel, and added the second to his tally the following week after beating championship leader Fabio Quartararo in Misano .
That was Ducati ‘s fifth win of 2021, after Jack Miller’s two wins in a row at Jerez and Le Mans , and Pramac rookie Jorge Martin’s first in Austria .
In addition to those five victories, the Ducati teams have also achieved podium finishes with five of the brand’s six riders. Rookie Enea Bastianini was the last to do so, taking third place at the San Marino GP on a bike from two years ago.
Only Yamaha surpasses Ducati’s number of victories this year, with six, although Quartararo has five of them, while Maverick Viñales has achieved the other.
Suzuki is yet to win a grand prix in a difficult season for the defending drivers’ and teams’ titles, thanks to a GSX-RR that has evolved little from its 2020 predecessor.
Speaking after crashing in the Misano race while running fourth trying to chase down Bastianini, Álex Rins said he believes Ducati has taken a giant step forward in 2021, highlighting how it has been able to improve on its traditional turning weakness.
(Before reading on, click on the link or on the image to see all the photos of the 2021 San Marino GP MotoGP race)
“I’ve seen that the Ducati is five more steps ahead,” said Rins. “They are quite strong. This crash maybe happened because I was trying to keep the same pace [as Bastianini].
“Joan [Mir] and I are trying to do our best with the Suzuki. Joan is fighting for the championship, I have nothing to lose, so I’ve tried not to be a little aggressive and to go more to the limit. [of the limit] and I fall”.
“They are quite a bit better than us. I would say in all the races, because before the Ducati was a bike that only worked well on stop and go circuits. Now, on almost all circuits they work well.”
“In Aragon, Pecco had a fantastic race, overtaking Marc. The bike was turning super well. Also, this track [Misano] is very narrow and they were able to turn well.”
His teammate Mir acknowledged after finishing sixth in Misano that his chances for the title had vanished, and said that he was “angry” about that fact, since he considers that he has been driving much better in 2021.
