Ducati’s Dilemma: Navigating Team Dynamics After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash

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

In a podcast discussion, someone questioned if there is some uncertainty due to the season still being early. This makes it hard to tell other Ducati riders that they are no longer in contention and should therefore hold back in such situations.

The contentious collision between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the closing stages of the Aragon MotoGP on Sunday resulted in both Ducati racers losing their chance at a podium finish.

This also implied that reigning champion Bagnaia, who had come 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, posed the question:

The race's main highlight was the fierce competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared inevitable. However, an incident abruptly changed the course of events.

“What did you think about the situation? It seems to have happened not long ago. Clearly, both riders are pointing fingers at each other…”

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

“Nearly everything went awry for him: two tire problems, starting from the less favorable side of the track in qualifying, and to top it all off, a crash when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for 3rd place.”

“Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and was aiming to possibly stand on the podium alongside Marc for his remarkable return. As you might expect, he was reluctant to surrender his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't enough space for both of them.”

The issue now is, who noticed whom first? And who was responsible for allowing more space? The Stewards decided not to take any additional measures. They mentioned reviewing some technical data, though the specifics remain unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing because, following the decision, Pecco mentioned that the data indicated Alex perhaps didn't slow down as much as one would anticipate from a rider involved in a collision."

"When two riders collide while riding identical bikes, the manufacturer is able to review data from both vehicles. This is precisely the procedure Ducati would have followed. We are aware they did the same thing after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia crashed, and Marc casually mentioned to resolve the blame dispute, ‘Ducati has access to all the data…’

"Pecco now claims that the data exonerates him. Did the Stewards review this data too? Would their decision have been different if they had seen what Pecco refers to? It's uncertain."

"Another helpful feature would have been the 'visor cam' perspective we saw from Alex Rins during the private test at Misano, as it would show us where each rider was focusing their attention!"

"A racing event with significant consequences. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the highest points this weekend. The most positive update is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez avoided serious injuries."

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

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, "I'm going to challenge the use of data a bit here. Whenever someone mentions data, I immediately recall when Honda in 2015 was confident they had data proving that Valentino had kicked Marc and were prepared to reveal it to everyone!"

However, if I were to assign responsibility, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've observed this behavior previously in Portugal and, to some extent, during the Sprint race at Jerez. It appears that Pecco struggles to choose his battles wisely.

"We witnessed it with Marc in Portugal. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would return to the inside, so why position your bike there? You could anticipate a collision; handle the corner more skillfully."

In Jerez, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he was faster than both of them. He should have eased off and not engaged in the battle. The same situation occurred this time as well.

"You noticed that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. You've observed that he's unaware of your presence. You're aware that Turn 13 is a tight spot where you switch to the right. And it's very likely that Alex will be in that position."

"In my opinion, when you're vying for the championship, you need to be more strategic in your gameplay. For instance, Alex should have been more aware of his surroundings and thought, 'This is going to be close. I'll pull back for now and look for another opportunity to regain my position.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered that there was still plenty of time left to make his move successfully."

"Each time Pecco has been involved in such incidents, he has ended up suffering the most, losing valuable points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco about being more strategic when interacting with other riders. They should advise him that securing a 4th place finish is preferable to ending up with no points at all."

"Pecco occasionally has a hard time accepting the position he's in. On the other hand, Martin has consistently taken second place when it's been available to him in recent weeks, and as a result, he's now leading the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded, saying, "Pete, this situation is reminiscent of the clash between Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans last season. It's also unfortunate timing since Martin has been performing flawlessly and consistently earning points."

“That brings us to a topic we all dislike – team orders,” McLaren stated. “It’s impossible not to think about Sunday and compare it to previous years when other Ducati riders understood they needed to allow the title challengers some extra space.”

"Currently, there is some uncertainty since we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they are mathematically out of contention and should therefore back off in such situations."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin, being the frontrunners in the championship, believe that 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 hold back; we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

The issue arises of what advice should be given to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who, although not at the very top, still have a viable shot at success.

Duncan commented: "In my opinion, Ducati should definitely review this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they want is for Alex Marquez to clash with Pecco Bagnaia again, which could unexpectedly lead to Martin gaining more points while Marc remains in the lead."

"We've observed how toxic the fan base can become in those circumstances, when they believe 'this incident occurred, sabotage and so on'."

"Ducati should take the lead and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders capable of winning the championship. If you’re not among them, don't compete aggressively against them.'"

"We hope to avoid that scenario, but it's a worst-case situation for Ducati with Martin 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 as though he was burdened by something."

"He didn't seem pleased at all. It was as though he saw the situation and thought: Pecco’s crashed, Marc’s securing victories—something they were initially concerned might disrupt the balance before letting him join Gresini—and Martin’s at the top of the championship standings."

"They need to consider that, with a different approach and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac, we could have had both of those riders on our team."

“There are several issues Ducati must address in the coming weeks, one of which is improving their management of the current situation to avoid potential embarrassment by the end of the season.”

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