Ducati’s Dilemma: Should They Intervene After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash Amid Title Race Tensions?

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

Podcast: "Is there some uncertainty because we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell other Ducati riders, 'you're no longer in contention, so you should back off in such scenarios'?"

A contentious incident late in the race on Sunday between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez at the Aragon MotoGP resulted in both Ducati riders losing their chances to finish in the top three.

This also implied that the defending champion Bagnaia, who had come to Spain with a five-point lead in the championship, departed the country bruised and injured, trailing Jorge Martin by 23 points.

In the most recent episode of the Crash.net MotoGP podcast, presenter Jordan Moreland inquired:

The main highlight of the race revolved around Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez fighting for a spot on the podium. Bagnaia appeared poised to overtake Marquez; it seemed inevitable. However, an incident then occurred.

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

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

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

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters with hopes of possibly sharing the podium with Marc, who was making a monumental return. Understandably, he didn’t want to surrender his position, and ultimately, there just wasn't sufficient space for both of them."

The issue now is, who noticed the other first? And which party should have made more space? The Stewards concluded that no additional action was necessary. They mentioned reviewing some technical data, though the specifics are unclear.

“The data aspect was intriguing, as Pecco mentioned after the ruling that the information suggested Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically anticipate in an accident.”

When two riders have an accident while riding identical bikes, the manufacturer has access to the data from both of them. This is precisely what Ducati would have done. It's known that they performed a similar analysis after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia crashed. Marc Marquez made a casual comment to defuse the blame by stating, ‘Ducati can see all the data…’

"Pecco now claims that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards review this information too? Would their decision have been different if they had seen the data Pecco refers to? It's uncertain."

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

"A racing event with significant consequences. Pecco benefited from Marc preventing Martin from securing the top points this weekend, and fortunately, neither Pecco nor Alex Marquez sustained serious injuries."

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

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, "I'm going to challenge the data perspective here, because when data is mentioned, I immediately recall Honda in 2015. They were firm in their belief that they had data proving Valentino kicked Marc and were ready to present it to everyone!"

"If I were to assign fault, I would place slightly more on Pecco, as we've observed similar behavior previously. This was evident in Portugal and somewhat noticeable 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, it was clear he would re-enter, so why position your bike there? It's evident that would lead to a collision; you should navigate the corner more strategically."

"In Jerez, when he ended up squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have realized he was faster than both and just pulled back. There was no need to engage in that fight. The same principle applied to this situation."

"You observed that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. You noticed that he is unaware of your presence. You're aware that Turn 13 is a tight spot when making a right turn. It's highly probable that Alex will be there."

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic, particularly if you're in contention for the championship. For instance, Alex might have benefited from glancing back and thinking, ‘This is going to be close. I'll pull back and look for another opportunity later’. Similarly, Pecco could have thought, ‘There's still time. I can make my move later on’."

"In each of the instances I've highlighted, Pecco has ended up suffering the most and has lost points as a result. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to be more selective about his on-track confrontations with other riders. They should emphasize that securing a 4th place finish is preferable to ending the race without any points."

“Pecco occasionally seems to have difficulty accepting the position that's available to him. Take Martin as an example; in recent weeks, he has consistently secured second place whenever it was within reach. As a result, Martin now leads the championship by 23 points.”

Moreland responded by saying, "Pete, this situation is similar to what happened last season with Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It's unfortunate timing because Martin is performing well and consistently earning points."

"And this brings us to the topic everyone dislikes: team orders," a McLaren representative stated. "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 those competing for the championship."

"Currently, there is some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati riders that they are statistically out of contention and should therefore hold back in such scenarios."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe that, because they lead the championship race, other Ducati riders will give them more space. However, those other riders seem to be thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions yet, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

Next is the issue of what advice you would give Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing behind the leading duo yet still have a viable shot.

Duncan mentioned that Ducati should consider this matter for its own benefit. He highlighted the importance of preventing another clash between Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, which could result in Jorge Martin gaining more points while Marc Marquez leads the race.

"We've observed how the fan base can become extremely toxic in these situations, thinking 'this occurred, sabotage and so on'."

Ducati must take the lead and declare: ‘These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who can clinch the championship. If you're not among them, don't race them aggressively’.

“It’s a situation Ducati dreads: Martin is topping the championship, and they can't afford to let him switch to Aprilia while holding the number one position.”

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

“He didn't seem pleased at all. It was like he saw the situation and thought: Pecco's crashed, Marc is securing victories – something 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 if the circumstances had been handled better and Marc was willing to join Pramac, they could have had both of those riders in their team."

Ducati has several issues to address in the upcoming weeks, one of which is better handling the current situation to avoid potential embarrassment by the season's end.

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