**”Ducati’s Dilemma: Analyzing the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez Clash and Its Implications for the MotoGP Season”**

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

In the podcast, it's discussed whether there's some uncertainty since the season hasn't progressed enough to tell other Ducati racers, "You're out of contention mathematically, so you should back off in such scenarios."

Sunday's contentious last-lap incident at the Aragon MotoGP between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez resulted in both Ducati racers losing their spots on the podium.

As a result, reigning champion Bagnaia, who came to Spain with a five-point lead in the title race, departed 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, inquired:

The main highlight of the race was the intense competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a spot on the podium. Bagnaia appeared poised to overtake Marquez; it seemed inevitable. Then, an unexpected event occurred.

“What are your thoughts on the situation? It seems to have happened not too long ago. Clearly, both cyclists are pointing fingers at each other…”

"A disastrous weekend for Bagnaia. This is the least amount of points he has earned in a single event since the Sprint format was introduced last year," stated Pete McLaren, the MotoGP editor at Crash.net.

"Nearly everything went awry for him: two tire problems, qualifying on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, a collision. As you mentioned, it seemed inevitable that he would secure 3rd place from Alex Marquez."

"Clearly, Alex was eager to perform well in front of his home crowd and had hopes of sharing the podium with Marc in what would be a memorable return for him. Understandably, he didn't want to lose his position, and ultimately, there just wasn't enough space for both of them."

"The issue now is, who spotted whom first? And who ought to have made more space? The Stewards decided not to take any further steps. They mentioned reviewing some mechanical data, though the specifics remain unclear."

"The data aspect was intriguing because, after the decision, Pecco mentioned that the data suggested Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically expect from a rider involved in a collision."

“When an accident involves two riders on identical bikes, the manufacturer can access the data for both. This is precisely what Ducati would have done. We are aware that they did something similar after the Portimao incident, when Marc Marquez and Bagnaia clashed. Marc made a casual remark to address the question of fault by stating, ‘Ducati can see all the data…’

“Pecco claims that the data indicates he wasn’t at fault. Did the Stewards have access to this information too? If they had seen what Pecco mentions, would it have made a difference? It’s uncertain.”

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

"A racing event with significant consequences. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from earning full points this weekend, and the silver lining is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez escaped without serious injuries."

Moreland asked, "Lewis, what do you think about this?"

"I'm going to challenge the use of data here, similar to how I felt when Honda in 2015 insisted they had data proving Valentino had kicked Marc and were ready to reveal it to everyone," stated MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan.

“If I had to assign responsibility, I would place a bit more on Pecco. This isn’t the first time we’ve observed this behavior. We saw it in Portugal and somewhat during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing his battles wisely.”

In Portugal, we observed this 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 lead to a collision; navigate the corner more wisely.

In Jerez, when he found himself caught between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have realized he was faster than both of them and backed off instead of engaging in a battle. The same principle applied in this situation.

“You observed that Alex didn’t check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. It’s evident that he’s unaware of your presence. You’re aware that Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you make a right turn. And it’s highly probable that Alex will be in that position.

"You need to strategize more effectively, particularly when you're in the running for a championship. In my opinion, Alex should have checked his position and thought, ‘This is going to be close. I'll ease off and try to regain ground later.’ Similarly, Pecco should have considered, ‘There's enough time left; I can still achieve my goal.’"

"Pecco has consistently ended up on the losing side in these situations, costing him valuable points. I believe Ducati should have a discussion with Pecco about being more strategic when interacting with other riders. Sometimes, securing a 4th place finish is more advantageous than risking everything and ending up with no points at all."

"It seems that Pecco occasionally has difficulty accepting the position he can realistically achieve. In contrast, Martin has 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, 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 consistently without errors and accumulating points."

McLaren continued, “This brings us to the dreaded topic of team orders. It's hard not to think about how, in previous years, other Ducati riders were aware they needed to allow extra space for championship contenders.”

"Right now, there's some uncertainty because we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of the competition and should therefore hold back in such scenarios."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin, being frontrunners in the championship race, believe other Ducati riders will give them more space. However, those riders are actually thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

A consideration arises regarding what advice might be given to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leading pair but still have a viable shot at success.

Duncan commented, "In my opinion, Ducati should reevaluate the situation for its own benefit. The last thing they want is for Alex Marquez to collide with Pecco Bagnaia again, which could result in Martin gaining more points and Marc leading the race."

"We've observed how toxic the fan base can become in such circumstances, when they believe there's been sabotage and other negative actions."

"Ducati must take the initiative and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who can secure the championship. If you are not among them, avoid racing aggressively against them.'"

"We hope to avoid that scenario, but it's a worst-case situation for Ducati with Martin currently at the top of the championship. They can't afford to let Martin join Aprilia while holding the number one position."

"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 off track, Marc is securing victories – a concern they had about maintaining balance before permitting his move to Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They must consider that, with better management and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac, we could have had both of those riders in our team."

"Ducati has quite a bit to consider in the coming weeks. One key issue is that they must handle the current situation more effectively, or they risk facing embarrassment by the season's end."

Find Out More

Breaking News

Breaking News

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to reproduce any text, photographs, or illustrations, either in whole or in part, in any manner.