### “Ducati Under Fire: Bagnaia-Marquez Clash Sparks Debate on Team Tactics and Championship Strategy

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

Discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell other Ducati racers, 'you're no longer in contention, so back off in such scenarios'?"

In a contentious incident during Sunday's Aragon MotoGP, Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez collided late in the race, causing both Ducati riders to lose their chance at securing a spot on the podium.

This situation resulted in reigning champion Bagnaia, who had come to Spain with a five-point lead in the title race, leaving the country injured and trailing Jorge Martin by 23 points.

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

The highlight of the race centered around the intense fight between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared inevitable. However, an unexpected incident occurred.

"What did you think about the situation? I believe it happened not too long ago. Clearly, every rider is pointing fingers at one another…"

"A disastrous weekend for Bagnaia, marking his worst performance since the Sprint format was introduced last year," commented Pete McLaren, MotoGP editor at Crash.net.

"Almost everything went awry for him: he faced two tire problems, had to qualify on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, he got into a collision when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for third place."

“Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and aiming to possibly stand on the podium alongside Marc during his remarkable return. Naturally, he was unwilling to relinquish his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't adequate space for both of them.”

The issue now is, who noticed whom first? And who was responsible for creating more space? The Stewards decided not to take any additional measures. They mentioned that they reviewed certain machine data, but the specifics are unclear.

“The data aspect was intriguing because, after the verdict, Pecco mentioned that the data indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as a rider typically would in a crash scenario."

"When two riders on identical motorcycles are involved in a crash, the manufacturer has access to the data from both bikes. This is precisely what Ducati would have reviewed. It is known that they did a similar analysis following the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia collided. To resolve the debate over who was to blame, Marc casually remarked, 'Ducati can see all the data…'"

"Pecco claims that the data indicates he wasn't responsible. Did the Stewards review this information too? If they had, would it have altered their decision? It's uncertain."

"Another helpful feature would have been the 'visor cam' perspective we saw from Alex Rins during the private Misano test, which showed us exactly where each rider was focusing their attention."

"A racing event with significant consequences. Pecco benefitted from Marc preventing Martin from securing the highest points this weekend, and the most positive aspect is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez escaped without serious injuries."

“Lewis, what do you think about this?” Moreland asked.

“I’m going to challenge the data perspective a bit here. Whenever someone mentions data, I immediately recall Honda in 2015, when they were convinced they had evidence proving Valentino had kicked Marc and planned to reveal it publicly!” stated MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan.

"However, if I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've observed this behavior previously. It was evident in Portugal and somewhat apparent during the Sprint race in Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with selecting the right moments to engage in battles."

"We observed this with Marc in Portugal. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would re-enter, so why place your bike there? It was inevitable that it would lead to a collision. Approach the corner more strategically."

"During the Jerez race, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have backed off since he was faster than both of them. He didn't need to engage in that battle. The same situation occurred this time."

"You noticed that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was behind Alex when Alex veered off at Turn 12. You saw that he was unaware of your presence. You know that Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you make a right turn. It's highly probable that Alex will be there."

"I believe you need to approach the game more strategically, particularly when you're competing for the championship. You could say that Alex should have been more aware of his surroundings and thought, 'This is going to be close. I'll pull back and look for another opportunity to overtake.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered, 'There's still enough time. I can accomplish this later.'"

"In every instance I've talked about, Pecco has ended up in the worst position and has lost points because of it. I believe Ducati should have a discussion with Pecco and advise him to be more strategic in his interactions with other riders. Sometimes, finishing in 4th place is preferable to not scoring any points at all."

“Pecco occasionally seems to have difficulty accepting what he can realistically achieve. In contrast, Martin has recently been content with securing second place when it's available, and as a result, he's 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 particularly unfortunate timing since Martin is performing flawlessly and consistently earning points."

"And this brings us to the topic everyone dislikes: team orders," said McLaren. "It's hard not to draw comparisons between Sunday and previous years when other Ducati riders understood they needed to give the title contenders some extra space."

"There's some uncertainty right now since the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of the competition and should therefore step aside in such situations."

“It’s possible that Pecco and Martin, being leaders in the championship, believe other Ducati racers will give them more leeway. However, those other racers are still competing fiercely for every spot, as they haven’t received any instructions to do otherwise.”

Next, consider what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are trailing slightly behind the leading pair but still have a plausible shot at success.

Duncan commented, "I believe Ducati should review this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to collide with Pecco Bagnaia again, which could lead to Martin gaining more points as Marc leads the race."

"We've witnessed how toxic the fan base can become in these scenarios, when they believe 'this occurred, sabotage and so on'."

"Ducati should take the lead and announce: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who can win the championship. If you're not among them, don't compete aggressively against them.'"

“We definitely want to avoid this scenario. It's a worst-case situation for Ducati, having Martin at the top of the championship standings. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia with the championship title isn't something they can afford to happen.”

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

"He didn't seem pleased at all. It was as though he saw the situation and thought: Pecco is crashing, Marc is winning races—which was a concern for them before agreeing to let him join Gresini—and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They must reflect on the fact that they could have retained both of those individuals if the circumstances had been handled differently and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac."

A lot of issues need to be addressed by Ducati in the coming weeks. One key point is that they must handle the current situation more effectively to avoid potential embarrassment by the season's end.

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