As Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi lead the charge, Rossi’s MotoGP team, which will remain unchanged for a second season, is one of eight bikes at Ducati.
Ducati has the most bikes on the grid, followed by Honda, Aprilia, and KTM, all of which have four bikes between their two teams. If Rossi and his VR46 team switch to Yamaha, Ducati could lose one of those teams, which would mean a quick return to four bikes for the Japanese manufacturer.
The Iwata-based brand will only have Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli on the Factory Monster Energy Team when Razali’s RNF team moves from Yamaha to Aprilia in 2023. This is the first time since the MotoGP era began in 2002 that Yamaha has only one team competing in the premier class.
With Alex Rins, who has won two of the last three races, Suzuki’s exit from MotoGP is likely to boost Ducati’s chances of maintaining their dominance in 2023.
After Viegas was re-elected as president of the FIM last week, he made an interesting statement that could be very damaging to the Italian brand after the next season.
“I don’t view what is happening as being especially great,” expressed Viegas about Suzuki pulling out and Yamaha being down to two bicycles when talked with by Rai television. “But I don’t think it will be until 2023. Valentino Rossi’s team will move from Ducati to Yamaha in 2024.
“I’m sharing some news, but for the time being it’s just an idea and nothing is confirmed. There will be four Yamahas and six Ducatis.”
Four Yamaha and fewer Ducatis should give fans more of a show for a balanced grid. This is especially true when it comes to qualifying, where Ducatis were in a class of their own in 2022.
When the Q2 sessions were over, Ducati outperformed its rivals and frequently had four or five bikes within the top six.
Given the nine-time world champion’s past with Yamaha, it won’t come as much of a surprise if Rossi’s team leaves Ducati.