**”Ducati’s Dilemma: Team Orders and the Aftermath of the Bagnaia-Marquez Clash at Aragon”**

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

Podcast Discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell other Ducati riders, 'you have no mathematical chance, so just stay out of such situations'?"

On Sunday, a contentious incident towards the end of the race at the Aragon MotoGP resulted in Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez, both riding for Ducati, losing their spots on the final podium.

This incident resulted in reigning champion Bagnaia, who had arrived with a five-point lead in the title race, leaving Spain injured and trailing Jorge Martin by 23 points.

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

The main highlight of the race was the intense fight between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Alex, with it appearing to be only a matter of time. Then, an unexpected 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 one another…”

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

“Almost everything went awry for him, from the two tire problems to starting on the dusty side of the track, and to top it all off, a crash occurred just when it seemed inevitable that he would take 3rd place from Alex Marquez.

Certainly!

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his home crowd and aimed to possibly stand on the podium alongside Marc during his remarkable return. Therefore, you can understand that he was reluctant to concede, and in the end, there simply wasn't sufficient space for both of them."

"The issue now is, who noticed whom first? And who was supposed to make more space? The Stewards decided not to take any further steps. They mentioned reviewing some data from the machines, but the specifics are unclear."

"The data aspect was intriguing because, after the decision, Pecco mentioned that the data suggested Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically expect a rider to in a collision."

When two riders on identical motorcycles are part of an incident, the manufacturer can access the data for both bikes. This is precisely what Ducati would have done in this situation. It's known that they also examined the data after the Portimao event, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. Marc Marquez made a casual remark to address the debate over who was responsible by stating, ‘Ducati can see all the data…’

“Pecco is now claiming that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards have access to this information too? If they had seen what Pecco says the data revealed, would their decision have been different? It's uncertain.”

"Another helpful tool would have been the 'visor cam' perspective we saw from Alex Rins during the private test session at Misano, so we could see where each rider was focusing their attention!"

"A racing event with significant consequences occurred. Pecco was fortunate that Marc intervened, preventing Martin from securing the highest points this weekend. The best part is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez escaped without major injuries."

Moreland asked Lewis for his opinion on the matter.

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, “I’m going to take a contrarian stance regarding data. Whenever data is mentioned, I immediately recall Honda in 2015. They were firmly convinced they possessed data proving that Valentino had kicked Marc and intended to reveal it to everyone!”

"If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've witnessed similar behavior from him previously—in Portugal and somewhat during the Sprint race in Jerez. It appears that Pecco lacks discernment in choosing his battles."

"We observed this in Portugal with Marc. Even if you couldn't see him on the outside, you knew he would re-enter, so why place your bike there? It was clear it would lead to a collision; you should navigate the corner more wisely."

At Jerez, he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder. He was faster than both of them, so he should have pulled back instead of engaging in the fight. The same situation applied here.

“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's unaware of your presence. You recognize that Turn 13 is a critical spot where you have to turn right. It’s highly probable that Alex will be there.”

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic, especially when you're competing for a championship. I believe Alex should have been more aware of what was happening behind him and thought, ‘This is going to be close. I should pull back and try to regain my position later.’ Pecco should have taken a similar approach, thinking, ‘There's still enough time. I can accomplish this later.’"

"Pecco has ended up on the losing side every time in the situations I described, resulting in lost points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to choose his battles wisely when interacting with other riders. Finishing in fourth place is preferable to ending up with zero points."

"In my opinion, Pecco occasionally finds it difficult to accept the position available to him. On the other hand, Martin has consistently accepted second place when that's been the best option these past few weeks. As a result, he now leads the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded: "Pete, this situation is similar to last year's event involving Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It’s particularly unfortunate timing as Martin is performing flawlessly and accumulating points."

"And that brings us to the topic we all dislike, which is the issue of team orders," McLaren stated. "It's inevitable to compare Sunday's race with previous years when other Ducati riders understood they needed to allow more space for those competing for the championship."

"There's some uncertainty right now because we're not deep enough into the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of contention, so they should just hold back in certain situations."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe that, since they are leading the championship, 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.'"

"Next, consider what advice you might give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are not quite at the level of the leading two but still have a viable opportunity."

Duncan commented, "In my opinion, Ducati should consider this situation carefully. What they want to avoid is a repeat of Alex Marquez having an issue with Pecco Bagnaia, which could unexpectedly benefit Martin in the standings while Marc takes the lead."

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

"Ducati should take control and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who can secure the championship. If you're not among them, don't compete aggressively against them.'"

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it's a worst-case situation for Ducati if Martin takes the lead in the championship. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia with the top position is not something they can permit."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall’Igna’s reaction as Marc finished. He appeared quite… distressed. He seemed burdened by something."

"That individual was clearly unhappy. It seemed as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco is having trouble, Marc is securing victories—which initially caused some concern about disrupting the balance before letting him join Gresini—and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

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

"There are numerous issues that Ducati must address in the upcoming weeks. One critical aspect is their need to handle the current situation more effectively, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the end of the season."

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