.
Won the 500cc title with the Honda Europe-managed Nastro Azzurro team in the year 2001 and Eddie Lawson earned top honors in 1989 on a Honda entered by the private Rothmans team.
With his objective of winning the championship already achieved, Martin’s next major test will be prevailing in his inaugural race with Aprilia, a quest that will prove exceptionally challenging in an era led by Ducati.
However, the possibility exists, and a precedent was established in 2004 by Rossi, the defending world champion, who won his inaugural race with a different manufacturer.
After four seasons with Honda from 2000 to 2003, during which he secured three titles and 33 grand prix victories, Rossi chose to demonstrate that it was him, not the bike, who made the difference, by joining Yamaha during its most challenging period in the premier class.
Unexpectedly, on his debut with the Iwata-based brand, Rossi won the now-legendary South African Grand Prix at Welkom on 18 April 2004, having joined the team as the defending champion. The result set the tone for the rest of the year, and Rossi ended up winning his fourth premier class title.
Valentino Rossi
There is no text to paraphrase.
Martin, like Rossi, lands at a new manufacturer after winning the 2024 title with Ducati.
The 2025 racing season will begin with the Thailand Grand Prix at the Chang International Circuit – racing grounds where he earned a significant double win back in 2023. Additionally, he accomplished a runner-up finish in both races at Buriram last year, showcasing his ability to consistently perform well at that track, particularly when driving a Desmosedici.
To pair its promising rider Bagnaia with a partner. However, considering Aprilia secured a race victory in 2024, alongside Ducati, Martin appears to have a realistic chance to cause a major upset among the GP25 competitors this season.
There is no text to paraphrase, please provide the text you want me to paraphrase.
Only Rossi has achieved the feat of arriving at a new factory as the reigning champion and winning the first race with the new team. A number of notable riders, such as MotoGP icon Casey Stoner, have also switched manufacturers or teams and captured their first triumph with their new partnership.
.
.
Podium: race winner Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda team, second place Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, third place Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda team
Photo by Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He and his new teammates, Pedrosa and Dovizioso, were both over five seconds behind him.
That season the Australian was declared the MotoGP champion for the second time, and he then publicly declared his retirement at the end of the 2012 season.
The first-time winner for a rider who switched teams was Maverick Vinales.
The Tech3 KTM rider made his debut in the top class in 2015 with Suzuki, and after two years with the Japanese team, he was lured by Yamaha for the 2017 season. On his first outing aboard the M1, the Spanish rider secured a victory at the Qatar GP, edging out Ducati’s Dovizioso and his teammate Rossi.
Read Also:
Pol Espargaro (Bagnaia) considers his 2024 MotoGP season thus far at a similar level to Marc Marquez’s in 2019, despite the absence of sprint races:
Honda needs to improve by just a fraction of a second to succeed at the MotoGP races during winter, according to Enea Bastianini, a premier class motocross rider.
Espargaró learned many things about Marquez during his time at Honda, which included the fact that “He is a strong competitor, a fighter. He’s really strong. When the others are in another shape, they all finish some seconds after, just [Marc]!”
