Ducati 'rocket ships' reign supreme in MotoGP as Honda, Yamaha fall behind

After eight rounds of the 2023 MotoGP season, riders on Ducati bikes have won seven races, underlining the dominance of the Italian constructor as they finally emerge from the shadow of their Japanese counterparts.

Since 1975, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda have had premier class championship winning riders in all but two seasons - when Casey Stoner dominated in 2007 and last year when Francesco Bagnaia famously erased a 91-point deficit to win the title.

Stoner's breakthrough season on the Ducati was seen as a one-off as Yamaha and Honda quickly re-established dominance, but Bagnaia's championship feels like the changing of the guard.

The red-hot 'Desmosedici' machines make up nearly half the grid with the satellite teams - VR46, Gresini and Pramac - using the Italian manufacturer's bikes.

Mike Trimby, who leads the International Road-racing Teams Association (IRTA), had been apprehensive about the number of Ducatis on the grid at the start of the season.

"Ducati have done a brilliant job in producing a bike... They've now got satellite teams beating them. The customer teams are beating the factory," Trimby told Reuters in March.

"Hopefully VR46 may go to Yamaha next year so that will level things up a bit. But you can't blame Ducati if they've got the best bike for getting the best customers."

VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi may beg to differ after a stellar second season in MotoGP where he is battling for the championship with factory Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia and Pramac's Jorge Martin.

The Honda and Yamaha garages are full of gloomy faces as they struggle to match Ducati's pace while their riders are either licking their wounds after multiple crashes or out of commission altogether.

Ducati's aerodynamic packages have been key to their