
Today marks exactly one year since a motorcycle other than a Ducati won a grand prix in MotoGP. Even then it came as a surprise in a championship dominated by the Bologna bikes. Maverick Vinales’s dominance at the 2024 Americas Grand Prix for Aprilia proved to be the archetypal flash in the pan.
In the wake of another seemingly easy victory for Marc Marquez aboard the factory ‘Duke’ in Qatar over the weekend, it would at first glance be easy to lament an even more monotonous start to the year than 2024 provided. There hasn’t even been a maverick, outlier result to pretty the picture in the four events so far.