Despite all the hype about how much Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki had improved their MotoGP efforts during the off-season, after two races the 2005 MotoGP Championship appears to be shaping up as another battle between Honda and Yamaha.
We have had nothing but Hondas and Yamahas on the podium for the first two races, and the top five in points are all on Hondas except for Rossi on his Yamaha.
Unlike the 500cc two-strokes raced a few years ago, the four-stroke prototypes raced in MotoGP clearly give an advantage to the larger, wealthier factories. For competition’s sake, we had hoped to see a bigger mix of manufacturers at the front this year, but so far it is not panning out.
Is it inevitable that the larger manufacturers, like Honda and Yamaha, with their greater resources, will dominate MotoGP for the forseeable future? Send us an email with your thoughts. We know that riders have a lot to do with success, but MotoGP seems to place a greater emphasis on the bike. With the complexity of four-stroke engine developement, compared to the relative simplicity of two-strokes, perhaps the bigger manufacturers have an advantage that will never be overcome.
