**Title: Ducati Faces Crucial Decision After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash: Navigating Team Orders and Championship Ambiguity**

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 that they're no longer in contention and should therefore hold back in such situations?"

The contentious incident between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the final moments of Sunday’s Aragon MotoGP resulted in both Ducati riders losing their chance at securing a podium finish.

This result indicated that the defending champion, Bagnaia, who came to Spain with a five-point lead in the standings, 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 question:

The race's most discussed moment was the intense competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared inevitable. But then, the unexpected occurred.

"What did you think about the situation? It seems to have happened not too long ago. Clearly, each cyclist is accusing the 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 of Crash.net MotoGP.

“Almost everything went awry for him: two tire problems, starting from the less favorable side of the track during qualifying, and to top it all off, a crash occurred just when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for 3rd place.”

Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and had hopes of possibly standing alongside Marc on the podium during his memorable return. Understandably, he was reluctant to let that opportunity slip, and ultimately, there simply wasn't enough space for both of them.

The issue now is to determine who noticed whom first and who should have allowed more space. The Stewards decided that no additional measures were needed. They mentioned that they reviewed some technical data, but the specifics are unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing, as Pecco mentioned after the decision that the data indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would normally expect from a rider involved in a crash."

"When two riders on identical motorcycles are involved in a crash, the manufacturer can access the data for both bikes. Ducati would have done just that in this case. We are aware that they did something similar after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. To address the debate over who was responsible, Marc casually mentioned, 'Ducati has access to 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 it have made a difference? It's uncertain."

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

A racing event with significant consequences occurred. Fortunately for Pecco, Marc prevented Martin from earning the highest 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.

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan commented, “I’ll challenge the data argument here, because whenever data is mentioned, I can’t help but recall Honda in 2015. They were firmly convinced they had data proving that Valentino had kicked Marc, and they were eager to present it to everyone!”

“If we were to assign responsibility, I would attribute a bit more to Pecco. This isn’t the first time we’ve observed this behavior. It 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 observed 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 position your bike there? It's clear that it would lead to a collision; you need to navigate the corner more wisely."

"During the race in Jerez, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he was actually faster than both of them. He should have pulled back instead of engaging. The same situation occurred in this instance."

"You’ve noticed that Alex hasn’t glanced around. He was trailing behind Alex when he went off track at Turn 12. It’s clear that he’s unaware of your presence. You’re aware that Turn 13 is a crucial spot, especially when you make the right turn. It’s highly probable that Alex will be there."

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic, especially if you're competing for the championship. Alex, for instance, should have checked behind him and thought, 'This is going to be close. I'll step back and try to regain my position later.' Similarly, Pecco should have realized, 'There's still time. I can make my move later.'"

"Every time this has happened, Pecco has ended up suffering the most and losing points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco to advise him on choosing his battles wisely when interacting with other riders. Finishing in fourth place is preferable to not earning any points at all."

“Pecco appears to occasionally have difficulty accepting the position he's in. On the other hand, if you observe Martin in recent weeks, he has consistently taken second place when it was available. As a result, he now leads the championship by 23 points.”

Moreland responded by saying, "Pete, this situation is similar to the one last season involving Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It’s unfortunate timing since Martin is performing flawlessly and consistently earning points."

"And this brings us to a topic everyone dislikes – team orders," McLaren stated. "It's inevitable to compare Sunday's race with previous years when other Ducati riders were aware they needed to allow more space for the title contenders."

"Currently, there's some uncertainty because we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they're no longer in contention and should therefore hold back in such scenarios."

"It's possible that Pecco and Martin, leading the championship race, believe that other Ducati riders will give them more space. However, those other riders are thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

"Next, there's the matter of what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leading duo yet still stand a plausible chance."

Duncan stated, "I believe Ducati should re-evaluate this situation for its benefit. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to clash 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 those instances, believing things like 'this was sabotage' and so on."

"Ducati needs to take the lead and declare: ‘These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who can win the championship. If you're not one of them, don't compete aggressively against them’."

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it’s a troubling situation for Ducati with Martin at the top of the championship. They can't afford to let Martin switch to Aprilia while holding the number one spot."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall’Igna's reaction once Marc finished the race. He appeared quite… distressed. It seemed like he was carrying a heavy burden."

"He didn't seem pleased at all. It was as if he saw the situation and thought: Pecco has crashed, Marc is securing victories—which they were initially concerned might disrupt the balance before they let him join Gresini—and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

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

"Ducati has a lot to address in the upcoming weeks, and one key issue is that they must handle the situation more effectively, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the season's end."

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