**Ducati’s Dilemma: Should Team Orders Be Enforced After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash?**

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

Discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because it's still early in the season to tell other Ducati riders that they're no longer in contention and should hold back in such situations?"

Sunday saw a contentious incident near the end of the race at the Aragon MotoGP, where a collision between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez led to both Ducati riders being eliminated from the battle for the final podium spot.

Arriving in Spain with a five-point lead in the championship, reigning 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 following question:

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, and it seemed inevitable. Then, the unexpected occurred.

“What’s your perspective on the situation? It seems like it happened not too long ago. Clearly, both riders are pointing fingers at one another…”

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

"Almost nothing went his way: he faced two tire problems, ended up qualifying on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, he had a collision at a point where it seemed inevitable he would secure third place from Alex Marquez."

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and aimed to possibly stand alongside Marc on the podium during his remarkable return. Therefore, you can understand that he was reluctant to yield, and ultimately, there simply wasn’t sufficient 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 pursue the matter. They mentioned reviewing certain machine data, though the specifics remain unclear.

"The data aspect became intriguing when Pecco later commented on the decision, asserting that the data indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as a rider typically would in a crash."

“When two riders on identical motorcycles are involved in a crash, the manufacturer can access the data for both bikes. That’s what Ducati would have done in this case. We are aware they did something similar after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. Marc tried to defuse the blame game by stating, ‘Ducati has access to all the data…’

"Pecco is now asserting that the data exonerates him. But did the Stewards have access to this information? If they had reviewed the data Pecco mentions, would their decision have been different? It's uncertain."

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

"A racing event with significant consequences occurred. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the maximum points this weekend. The most positive outcome is that neither Pecco nor Alex Marquez sustained serious injuries."

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

"I'm going to challenge this perspective on data for a moment, as it always reminds me of Honda in 2015. They were confident that their data proved Valentino had kicked Marc and were ready to present it to everyone," stated MotoGP reporter Lewis Duncan.

"However, if I had to assign blame, I would attribute a bit more of it to Pecco because this isn't the first time we've witnessed such behavior. It happened in Portugal and again during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing the right moments to engage in battles."

“We witnessed a similar situation with Marc in Portugal. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would re-enter the track, so why place your motorcycle in that spot? It’s clear that would lead to a collision; handle the corner more skillfully.”

"In Jerez, when he ended up squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder – you were faster than both of them, so back off. Don't engage. And the same principle applied here."

"You noticed that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. It's clear he wasn't aware of your presence. You realize Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you swerve right. It's highly probable Alex will be there."

"When you're competing for a championship, it's essential to play more strategically. In my opinion, Alex should have been more aware of what's happening behind him and considered thinking, 'This is close. I'll pull back for now and try to make a comeback later.' Similarly, Pecco should have thought, 'There's still time. I can accomplish this later.'"

In all the instances I’ve brought up, Pecco has had the most unfortunate outcomes and has lost points as a result. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to choose his battles wisely when interacting with other riders. Finishing in 4th place is preferable to ending the race without any points.

"Pecco seems to occasionally have difficulty accepting the position available to him. In contrast, Martin has consistently accepted second place when it's been attainable over the past few weeks. As a result, Martin is now leading the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded, saying, “Pete, this situation is similar to what happened between Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans last season. It’s also unfortunate timing, as Martin is performing flawlessly and accumulating points.”

"That 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 when other Ducati riders understood they needed to allow more space for the title challengers."

"There's some uncertainty right now because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of contention, so they should step aside in this scenario."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe they will get more leeway from other Ducati riders since they are leading the championship race. However, the other riders are likely thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions yet, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

The next issue to consider is what advice you would give Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are not quite at the level of the top two but still have a viable opportunity.

Duncan mentioned, "In my opinion, Ducati should examine this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they need is another clash between Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, which could result in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race."

"We have observed how toxic the fan base can become in these scenarios, believing things like 'this happened, sabotage, etc.'"

Ducati should take a proactive approach and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who have a chance to win the championship. If you are not among them, do not compete aggressively against them.'

"We definitely don't want this to happen, but it's a worst-case scenario for Ducati with Martin currently at the top of the championship. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia while holding the number one position is something they can't afford."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall’Igna's reaction after Marc finished the race. He appeared quite… distressed. It seemed like something was heavily on his mind."

"He did not seem pleased. It was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco has crashed, Marc is securing victories – a scenario they were initially concerned might disrupt the balance before letting him join Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They must consider that they could have retained both of those riders in their team if the circumstances had been handled better and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac."

"There are several issues Ducati must address in the coming weeks, and a key one is improving their management of the current situation, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the season’s end."

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