WHO CANCATCH SUZUKIIN 2021?

MotoGP is going through special times at the moment, with the top factories banned from upgrading engines for 2021, to ease the financial pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic. This will make it harder for Suzuki’s rivals to close the gap on the GSX-RR, which has the most tyre-friendly engine on the grid. But Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM and Yamaha have plenty of other ways to make themselves more competitive.

Ducati and Honda need to make their V4s use more corner speed to work with Michelin’s latest rear slick, which encourages smoother cornering arcs, as used by the inline-four Suzuki and Yamaha.

Yamaha need to make their YZR-M1 rely less on the front tyre, KTM need to make their RC16 V4 more consistent from one track to another and Aprilia need to continue the development of their latest RS-GP, which was all-new last season.

Meanwhile Suzuki just needs to keep doing what it’s been doing.

DUCATI DESMOSEDICI

Red rocketship, but still seeking corner grip and turn

DUCATI HAS A lot of work to do after its disastrous 2020, during which it only won two races, against its average of five victories a year during the previous few seasons.

Its main problem last year was a mismatch between the Desmosedici and Michelin’s latest rear slick, plus its usual turning