Should Ducati Intervene After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash? Analyzing the Title Implications and Team Strategy

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

Podcast discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because it's still early in the season to tell other Ducati riders, 'you're no longer in contention, so you should back off in such situations'?"

The contentious incident that occurred between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the closing stages of Sunday’s Aragon MotoGP race resulted in both Ducati riders losing their positions on the podium.

In addition, arriving in Spain with a five-point lead in the championship, reigning champion Bagnaia left 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, inquired:

The main highlight of the race was the intense duel between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a spot on the podium. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared inevitable. However, an unexpected incident occurred.

“How did you perceive the situation? It seems to have happened not long ago. Clearly, both riders are pointing fingers at each other…”

"A disastrous weekend for Bagnaia, marking his worst performance since the Sprint format was introduced last year," stated Pete McLaren, MotoGP editor at Crash.net.

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

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and aiming to possibly share the podium with Marc during his remarkable return. Therefore, it was understandable that he didn't want to relinquish his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't enough 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 take any additional measures. They mentioned reviewing some technical data, though the specifics are unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing because, when Pecco later discussed the decision, he stated that the data indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would typically expect in a collision situation."

"When two riders from the same team are involved in a crash, the manufacturer can access data for both bikes. Ducati definitely did this. We know they also reviewed the data after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia collided, and Marc casually mentioned that Ducati could examine all the data to determine who was responsible."

“Pecco is now asserting that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards get a chance to review this data too? Would their decision have been different if they had seen what Pecco claims is evident in the data? It's uncertain.”

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

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

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

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, “I want to challenge the data perspective a little, 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 prepared to present it to everyone!”

"If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've witnessed this behavior previously, notably in Portugal and somewhat during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing the appropriate moments to engage in battles."

"We witnessed it with Marc in Portugal. Even if you didn't see him from the outside, you knew he would re-enter, so why position your bike there? It was inevitable that it would lead to a collision; you should maneuver the corner more skillfully."

In Jerez, when he found himself stuck between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he was actually faster than both of them. He should have pulled back instead of getting into a fight. The same advice applies to this situation.

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

"In my opinion, you need to strategize more effectively, particularly when you're in contention for the championship. I believe Alex should have checked his surroundings and thought, 'This is going to be close. I'll ease off and try to regain position later.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered, 'There's enough time left. I can make my move later on.'"

Each time this has happened, Pecco has ended up on the losing side and has missed out on points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to be more selective when engaging with other riders. They should tell him, 'Finishing in 4th place is preferable to finishing without any points at all.'

"Pecco seems to occasionally find it difficult to accept the position he can realistically achieve. In contrast, Martin, over the last few weeks, has consistently secured second place when it was attainable. This strategy has now put him 23 points ahead in the championship standings."

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

McLaren addressed the topic by saying, “This brings us to the dreaded issue of team orders. It's hard not to draw comparisons between Sunday’s race and previous years when other Ducati riders were aware they needed to give title contenders more space.”

"There's some uncertainty right now because we haven't progressed enough in the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of contention and should therefore back off in such situations."

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

"What advice would you give Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are just behind the leading duo but still have a viable shot?"

Duncan commented: "In my opinion, Ducati should reevaluate its strategy. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to collide with Pecco Bagnaia again, resulting in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race."

"We've observed how extremely toxic the fan base can become in such scenarios, believing things like 'this was sabotage' and similar accusations."

"Ducati needs to take the lead and declare: 'These are our title contenders. These are the riders who can win the championship. If you're not among them, don't race them aggressively.'"

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it’s a worst-case situation for Ducati with Martin currently at the top of the championship standings. Allowing Martin to join Aprilia while holding the number one position is something they can't afford to let happen."

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

"That individual did not seem content. It was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco is off the track, Marc is securing victories – a concern they had about disrupting the balance before letting him join Gresini initially – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

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

"In my opinion, Ducati has a great deal to address in the upcoming weeks. One key aspect is that they must handle the current circumstances more effectively; otherwise, they risk facing significant embarrassment by the end of the season."

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