Ducati Dilemma: Should They Intervene After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash? Podcast Debates Mid-Season Team Orders

Should Ducati intervene following the incident between Bagnaia and Alex Marquez?

Discussion: "Is the situation unclear because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell other Ducati riders that they're no longer in contention and should therefore hold back in such scenarios?"

In a contentious incident during the final laps of Sunday’s Aragon MotoGP, Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez collided, causing both Ducati riders to miss out on a podium finish.

It also implied that reigning champion Bagnaia, who had come with a five-point lead in the title race, departed Spain beaten, injured, and trailing Jorge Martin by 23 points.

In the most recent episode of the Crash.net MotoGP podcast, Jordan Moreland, the host, posed the question:

"The race's most discussed moment occurred when Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez were vying for a podium finish. Bagnaia appeared to be on the verge of overtaking Alex; it seemed inevitable. Then, the unexpected event took place."

“What did you think about it? It seems to have happened recently. Clearly, each cyclist is pointing the finger at the other…”

Crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren commented, "Bagnaia had a disastrous weekend. This is his worst performance in an event since the Sprint format was introduced last year."

"Nearly everything went awry for him: he faced two tire problems, qualified on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, collided just when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for 3rd place."

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his hometown supporters and was aiming to possibly share the podium with Marc during his remarkable return. Therefore, you can understand that he wasn't willing to concede, leading to a situation where there simply wasn't enough space for both of them."

The issue then arises: who noticed whom first? And who was responsible for making more space? The Stewards decided not to take any additional measures. They mentioned that they reviewed some data from the machines, but the specifics are unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing because, following the decision, Pecco mentioned that the data indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically expect a rider to do in a crash."

When two riders have an accident while using identical bikes, the manufacturer can access data from both machines. This is precisely what Ducati would have done. We are aware that they also analyzed the data after the Portimao collision between Marc Marquez and Bagnaia. In that case, Marc Marquez diffused the blame game by casually stating, 'Ducati has all the data…'

"Pecco is now stating that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards have access to this information too? If they had reviewed the data Pecco refers to, would their decision have been different? It's uncertain."

"Another helpful feature would have been a 'visor cam' perspective, similar to what we saw from Alex Rins during the private test at Misano, to understand where each rider was focusing their attention!"

"A racing mishap with significant consequences. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the maximum points this weekend. The silver lining is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez escaped without serious injuries."

“What do you think about it, Lewis?” Moreland asked.

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan stated, "I'm going to take a contrarian stance regarding data, as whenever someone mentions data, I immediately recall Honda in 2015. They were absolutely certain they had data proving that Valentino had kicked Marc and planned to reveal it to the public!"

"If I were to assign blame, I would attribute slightly more to Pecco. We've observed this behavior previously—in Portugal and somewhat during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing the right moments to engage in battles."

"We observed a similar situation in Portugal with Marc. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would return to the track, so why position your bike there? It's obvious that would result in a collision; handle the corner more effectively."

"In Jerez, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have pulled back since he was faster than both of them. There was no need to engage. The same principle applied in this situation."

"You noticed that Alex hasn't been paying attention to his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. It's clear that he is unaware of your presence. You also know that Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you make a quick right turn. Given the circumstances, Alex is very likely to be in that position."

"In my opinion, you need to strategize more effectively, particularly if you're competing for a championship. I believe Alex should have checked his rear and considered, 'This is going to be close. I'll ease off and look for an opportunity to counter later.' Similarly, Pecco should have thought, 'There's still time. I can achieve this.'"

"Each time this has happened, Pecco has ended up in a worse position and lost points because of it. I believe Ducati should talk with Pecco and advise him to choose his battles carefully when interacting with other riders. They could tell him, 'It's better to finish in 4th place than to end up with no points at all.'"

"Pecco occasionally seems to have difficulty accepting the position he can achieve. In contrast, if you observe Martin over the last few weeks, he has consistently taken second place when it's available. As a result, he is now leading the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded by saying, “Pete, this situation is similar to what happened last season with Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It's unfortunate timing since Martin is performing flawlessly and consistently scoring points."

"And that brings us to the dreaded topic of team orders," a McLaren spokesperson stated. "It's hard not to draw comparisons between Sunday's race and previous years when other Ducati riders understood they needed to allow the title contenders more space."

"Currently, there is some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati racers that they are mathematically out of contention and should therefore step aside in such situations."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe that, since they are leading in the championship, other Ducati riders will give them more space on the track. However, those other riders are likely thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions to ease off, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

The question then arises: what advice would you give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the top two but still have a viable shot at success?

Duncan commented, "In my opinion, Ducati should review this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to have another clash with Pecco Bagnaia, which could result in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race."

“We've observed how toxic the fan community can become in such scenarios, when they believe ‘this occurred, sabotage and so on’.

"Ducati should take the initiative and declare: 'These are the riders who can contend for the title. These are the competitors who can secure the championship. If you are not among them, do not compete aggressively against them.'"

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it's a dire situation for Ducati with Martin at the top of the standings. They can't afford to let Martin move to Aprilia while holding the championship title."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall’Igna's reaction after Marc finished the race. He appeared quite… distressed. It seemed as though he was burdened by something."

“That individual didn't seem pleased. It was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco is off the track, Marc is securing victories – a concern they had about disturbing the balance before permitting him to join Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings.”

"They need to consider that, with different management and Marc's willingness to join Pramac, we could have had both riders in our team."

"I believe Ducati has a lot to consider in the upcoming weeks. One crucial aspect is improving their management of the situation, or they risk embarrassment by the end of the season."

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