Moto GP - a photographic celebration by Phil Wain

Author:Phil Wain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
Published: 2018-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

Eddie Lawson Oulton Park 1983

Garry McCoy Donington Park 2000

Tadahiko Taira Donington Park 1998

Christian Sarron Silverstone 1985

Ben Spies Valencia 2009

Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales Silverstone 2017

DUCATI

2003–present

Having dominated the World Superbike Championship in the 1990s, the change to four-stroke rules in Moto GP was a shot in the arm for Italian manufacturer Ducati and they made their much-heralded entrance to the class in 2003. And with riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss on board, they made an instant impression, the duo finishing fourth and sixth overall respectively in the riders’ championship and Ducati coming second overall in the constructors’ championship.

Capirossi gave them their first win that year at Catalunya but slipped back to ninth overall in 2004 before mounting a major title challenge in 2006, eventually finishing third in the title race after taking wins at Jerez, Brno and Motegi in Japan. However, it was the signing of Casey Stoner for the 2007 season that saw Ducati ultimately claim the sport’s greatest prize.

The Australian’s maiden Moto GP season in 2006 on an LCR Honda saw him show rapid pace but also suffer a number of crashes, and he was expected to be the number-two rider to Capirossi. He proved to be anything but and romped to the world title, taking no fewer than ten wins in the eighteen-round series, his eventual winning margin a whopping 125 points.

It soon became clear that Stoner was an exceptional talent and the combination of him and Ducati a potent force, but for various reasons the pairing never won another world title. Only Stoner seemed to have the capabilities to make the bike run at the head of the field. When Valentino Rossi joined the team in 2011 as Stoner moved to Honda, where he would collect another title, the seemingly dream partnership proved to be the exact opposite. Just as other riders before him had tried and failed, including fellow Italian Marco Melandri, Rossi was outclassed during his two seasons with Ducati and only managed three podiums.

That further proved just how good Stoner was, and while Ducati were by no means also-rans, regular success in terms of Grand Prix wins proved hard to come by. Briton Cal Crutchlow was another who tried and failed to master the Desmosedici, but the perseverance of Italian Andrea Dovizioso helped Ducati get back to winning ways and, after finishing fifth overall in 2016, he mounted a serious title challenge in 2017.

Despite Jorge Lorenzo joining the team, the Spaniard struggling like others before him, Dovizioso fought all year long for the title and only missed out to the precocious talent of Marc Márquez.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.