Ducati’s Dilemma: Navigating Team Orders and Championship Controversies After the Bagnaia-Marquez Clash

Should Ducati intervene following the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez clash?

Podcast: "Is there some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell other Ducati riders that they're out of the title race and should hold back in such situations?"

In Sunday’s Aragon MotoGP, a contentious incident towards the end of the race involving Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez resulted in both Ducati riders losing their chance to finish on the podium.

This also implied that the reigning champion Bagnaia, who had come to Spain with a five-point lead in the championship, 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 following question:

"The highlight of the race was the intense competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared to be only a matter of time. Then, unexpectedly, the incident occurred."

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

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

"Nearly everything fell apart for him: two tire problems, starting from the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, a collision when it seemed inevitable he would overtake Alex Marquez for third place."

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

"The key issue arises: who noticed whom first? And who was responsible for providing more space? The Stewards decided that no additional measures were necessary. They mentioned reviewing certain machine data, but the specifics of this data remain unclear."

"The data aspect was intriguing because, when Pecco discussed the incident following the decision, he asserted that the information indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically anticipate from a rider involved in a crash."

"When two riders on identical bikes are part of an incident, the manufacturer has access to data from both bikes. Ducati certainly analyzed this information. We are aware that they did something similar after the Portimao event, where there was a collision between Marc Marquez and Bagnaia. Marc made a remark to defuse the blame game by stating, 'Ducati can review all the data…'"

Pecco now claims that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards review this information too? If they had seen what Pecco describes in the data, would it have made a difference? It's uncertain.

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

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

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

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, "I'll challenge the data argument here. Every time data is mentioned, I recall Honda in 2015. They were convinced they had evidence showing Valentino kicking Marc and intended to present it to everyone!"

“If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more responsibility on 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 the situation with Marc in Portugal. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you had to know he would re-enter the track, so why place your bike in that position? It was inevitable that there would be contact; you should have navigated the corner more strategically."

Here's what happened: At Jerez, he ended up caught between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder. Knowing he was faster than both, he should have pulled back and avoided the confrontation. The same advice applies to this situation.

"You observed that Alex didn’t check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex went off course at Turn 12. It's clear that he is unaware of your presence. You understand that Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you make a right turn. It's highly probable that Alex will be there."

In my opinion, you need to approach the game more strategically, particularly if you're aiming for the championship. I believe Alex could have been more aware of his surroundings and thought, ‘This is going to be close. I'll pull back now and try to regain the position later.’ Similarly, Pecco should have realized that there was still enough time to make his move and that he could achieve his goal without rushing.

"In every instance I’ve described, Pecco has ended up suffering the most and has lost valuable points as a result. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco about being more strategic when interacting with other riders. They should emphasize that securing a 4th place finish is preferable to ending a race without any points."

"Pecco occasionally has difficulty accepting the position available to him. In contrast, Martin has consistently accepted second place when it's been achievable, especially in recent weeks. As a result, Martin is now leading the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded by saying, "Pete, this situation is similar to last year's event involving Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It’s unfortunate timing since Martin is performing consistently without errors and accumulating points."

McLaren continued, “This brings up the dreaded topic of team orders. It’s hard not to draw parallels between Sunday’s race and previous years when other Ducati riders were aware that they needed to provide more space for the title contenders.”

"Currently, there's some uncertainty 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 such scenarios."

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

The next issue to consider is what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who aren't quite at the level of the top two contenders but still have a viable shot.

Duncan commented, “In my opinion, Ducati should evaluate this situation for its benefit. The last thing needed is for Alex Marquez to clash with Pecco Bagnaia again, which could result in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race.”

"We've observed how toxic the fan base can become in such scenarios, where they start to believe things like 'this happened, sabotage, and so forth'."

“Ducati should take charge and declare: ‘These are the riders who are contenders for the championship. These are the ones who can secure the title. If you’re not among them, don’t compete aggressively against them’.”

"We really hope that doesn't happen, but for Ducati, the worst-case scenario is Martin being the championship leader. They can't afford to let Martin move to Aprilia while holding the number one spot."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall'Igna's reaction after Marc finished the race. He appeared quite distraught, as if something heavy was on his mind."

"He didn't seem pleased at all. It was as if he saw the situation and thought: Pecco's crashed, Marc's winning races—which was a concern before they let him join Gresini—and Martin's at the top of the championship standings."

"They need to consider that they could have retained both of those individuals in their team if the circumstances had been handled in another way, and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac."

"There are multiple issues Ducati must address in the coming weeks. One crucial aspect is improving their management of the current situation, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the season's end."

Discover More

Breaking News

Breaking News

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to fully or partially reproduce the text, images, or illustrations in any manner.