Ducati nears Honda’s legendary 500cc/MotoGP win streak
Ducati targets 20th consecutive MotoGP victory, closing in on Honda’s all-time record.
This weekend’s Americas Grand Prix at COTA marks the one-year anniversary of Ducati’s last MotoGP defeat.
That came at the hands of Maverick Vinales and Aprilia, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta pushing Ducati to third on the podium with Enea Bastianini.
But Ducati has won all 19 grands prix since.
A victory this Sunday in Austin would see them match MV Agusta’s longest unbeaten streak of 20 consecutive wins (1968-1969), edging them even closer to the all-time record of 22 in a row, set by Honda in the late 1990s.
Honda’s dominant run began at the season-opening 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix and continued up to and including the 1998 Dutch TT at Assen.
It took Simon Crafar, now head of the FIM MotoGP Steward panel, to finally break the streak, claiming victory for the Red Bull Yamaha WCM team at Donington Park in the 1998 British Grand Prix.
Crafar’s triumph was the only non-Honda victory of the 14-round 1998 season, with Mick Doohan leading an NSR sweep of the championship top five.
Fast forward 27 years, and it could be another Honda legend - Marc Marquez - who plays a role in rewriting history.
Now a factory Ducati rider, Marquez is undefeated so far in 2025, winning all four races (two Sprints and two grands prix).
If the Ducati riders can keep the win streak alive, the factory will reach 22 in a row in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, a home event for the Marquez brothers, who are currently first and second in the world championship.
Only GPs count towards the successive win record, with Ducati beaten in four Sprint races last season, again by Aprilia riders.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
