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

Should Ducati intervene after the Bagnaia and Alex Marquez clash?

Podcast: "Is there some uncertainty because we're still early in the season to tell other Ducati racers, 'you're no longer in contention, so hold back in such situations'?"

The contentious incident involving Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the late stages of Sunday's Aragon MotoGP race resulted in both Ducati racers losing their positions on the podium.

It also implied that, after coming to Spain with a five-point lead in the championship, the defending champion Bagnaia departed the country 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 highlight of the race was the intense competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia appeared poised to overtake Marquez, with the outcome seemingly inevitable. However, an unexpected incident occurred.

“What did you think about the situation? It seems to have happened not long ago. Clearly, each cyclist is holding the other responsible…”

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

"Nearly everything went awry for him, from the two tire problems to qualifying on the less favorable side of the track. To top it all off, he was involved in a collision just when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for 3rd place."

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and aimed to possibly stand alongside Marc on the podium for his remarkable return. Therefore, it’s understandable that he was reluctant to concede, and ultimately there just wasn’t sufficient space for both of them."

The issue now is, who noticed the other first? And who ought to have made more space? The Stewards concluded that no additional measures were necessary. They mentioned reviewing certain technical data, though the specifics remain unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing because, after the decision was made, Pecco mentioned that the information indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically anticipate in a crash scenario."

"When two riders are involved in an accident while riding the same bikes, the manufacturer has access to both sets of data. Ducati did exactly this. It’s known that Ducati also reviewed data following the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia crashed. Marc Marquez made a casual remark to resolve the blame issue by stating, 'Ducati can see all the data…'"

"Pecco is currently asserting that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. But did the Stewards review this data too? If they had, would it have altered their decision? It's uncertain."

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

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

Moreland asked Lewis for his opinion.

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, “I’m going to challenge the use of data a bit, because whenever someone mentions data, I immediately recall Honda in 2015. They were confident they had data proving that Valentino had kicked Marc and were planning to reveal it to everyone!”

"If I were to assign fault, I would place slightly more responsibility on Pecco. We've witnessed similar behavior from him previously in Portugal and somewhat during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing the right moments to engage in battles."

In Portugal, we observed this with Marc. Regardless of whether you could spot him from the outside, it was clear he would re-enter, so why position your bike there? It's evident that this would lead to a collision; handle the corner more strategically.

“During the Jerez race, when he found himself caught between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, it was clear he had more speed than both of them. He should have pulled back and avoided battling with them. The same issue occurred this time as well."

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

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic, particularly if you're competing for a championship. One could argue that Alex should have checked his rearview and thought, 'This is going to be close. I'll pull back and try to regain position later.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered, 'There's still enough time. I can make my move later on.'"

Pecco has ended up in a worse position and lost points in all the instances I mentioned. I believe Ducati should have a discussion with Pecco about being more strategic when interacting with other riders. They should emphasize that securing a 4th place finish is preferable to ending up with no points at all.

"Pecco might occasionally have difficulty accepting the best possible outcome available to him. In contrast, Martin has recently been content with securing second place when that's the best option, and as a result, he now leads the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded by saying, "Pete, this situation is similar to what happened between Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans last season. It's unfortunate timing, especially since Martin is performing consistently without errors and accumulating points."

"And this brings us to the dreaded topic of team orders," stated McLaren. "It's hard not to draw parallels between Sunday's race and previous years, where other Ducati riders were aware that they needed to allow more space for the title contenders."

"There is some uncertainty right now since the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of contention and should therefore hold back in those circumstances."

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

"Another point to consider is what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leading pair yet still possess a legitimate opportunity."

Duncan commented, “In my opinion, Ducati should reassess this for its own benefit. The last thing you want is for Alex Marquez to clash again with Pecco Bagnaia, leading to a situation where Martin gains more points and Marc is leading the race.”

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

"Ducati should take the lead and declare: ‘These are our title contenders. These are the riders who have a chance to win the championship. If you're not among them, don't compete aggressively with them’."

“We don't want that outcome, but it's a worst-case scenario for Ducati with Martin at the top of the championship. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia while holding the number one position is something they can't 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 as though something was heavily on his mind."

"He didn't seem pleased at all. It was as though he saw the situation and thought: Pecco has crashed, Marc is securing victories—which they were somewhat concerned about disrupting the balance before letting him join Gresini—and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They must be considering that they could have retained both individuals if the circumstances had been handled differently and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac."

A lot of considerations are on Ducati's plate for the upcoming weeks, and a key one is that they must handle the current circumstances more effectively. If they fail to do so, they risk facing significant embarrassment by the season's end.

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