**Title: “Ducati Under Scrutiny: Evaluating the Aftermath of the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez Collision and Future Team Dynamics”**

Should Ducati intervene following the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez clash?

Discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because it's still early in the season to tell other Ducati riders, 'you're out of the championship race, so hold back in such situations'?"

The contentious encounter between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the final stages of Sunday's Aragon MotoGP resulted in both Ducati racers being eliminated from a podium finish.

This also implied that after coming to Spain with a five-point lead for the title, the defending 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, inquired:

The main highlight of the race was the intense competition between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a spot on the podium. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez; it appeared to be only a matter of time before it happened. Then, an unexpected incident occurred.

“What did you think about the situation? It seems like it happened not too long ago. Clearly, each cyclist is holding the other responsible…”

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

"Nearly everything fell apart for him, from the two tire problems to starting on the dusty side of the track. To top it all off, he got into a crash 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 aimed to possibly stand next to Marc on the podium during his remarkable return. As you can picture, he was reluctant to relinquish his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't enough space for both of them."

"The issue now is to determine who observed whom and who was at fault for not providing enough space. The Stewards decided not to take any further steps. They mentioned reviewing some technical data, but the specifics remain unclear."

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

"When two riders crash and they're both using the same brand of motorcycles, the manufacturer has access to the data for both bikes. This is precisely what Ducati did in this situation. After the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision, Marc made a casual remark to address the question of blame, saying, 'Ducati can review all the data…'"

"Pecco now claims that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards have access to this information too? If they had, would it have made a difference in their decision? It's uncertain."

"Another helpful feature could have been the 'visor cam' perspective we saw from Alex Rins during the private test at Misano, which showed exactly where each rider was looking."

An on-track clash occurred with significant consequences. Pecco benefitted from Marc's intervention, which prevented Martin from earning full points this weekend. Fortunately, both Pecco and Alex Marquez emerged without serious injuries.

Moreland asked, "What do you think about it, Lewis?"

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan remarked, "I'll play devil's advocate regarding data, because whenever data is mentioned, I immediately recall Honda in 2015, when they were certain they had evidence of Valentino kicking Marc and planned to reveal it publicly!"

“If I were to assign fault, I’d place a bit more on Pecco because he’s shown this behavior previously. We observed it in Portugal and somewhat in 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, it was clear he would re-enter the track. So, why position your bike there? It's inevitable that it will lead to a collision; handle the corner more strategically."

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 and avoided the confrontation. The same principle applied in this situation.

"You noticed Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. It's clear he is unaware of your presence. You recognize Turn 13 as a tight spot, especially when you make the right turn. It's very likely that Alex will be in that position."

"I believe it's important to be more strategic, particularly when you're competing for the championship. In my opinion, Alex should have been more aware of his surroundings and thought, 'This is a close call. I'll pull back and try to regain my position later.' Pecco could have taken a similar approach, thinking, 'There's still enough time. I can secure the win later.'"

"In each of those instances I've referred to, Pecco has ended up in the worst position and has lost points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco about choosing his battles wisely when interacting with other riders. It's better to secure a 4th place finish than to end up with no points at all."

"Pecco occasionally seems to have difficulty accepting the best possible outcome available to him. In contrast, Martin has recently been content with finishing in second place when that's the best he could achieve. As a result, he is now leading the championship by 23 points."

Moreland responded, “Pete, this situation is reminiscent of last season’s clash between Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans. It’s particularly unfortunate timing since Martin is performing flawlessly and consistently scoring points."

McLaren continued by addressing a topic everyone dislikes: team orders. He noted that it's hard not to draw comparisons between Sunday’s race and previous years when other Ducati riders were aware that they needed to give the title contenders some extra space.

"Currently, there's some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati riders that they're no longer in contention and should back off in certain situations."

It’s possible that Pecco and Martin, being in the lead for the championship, expect other Ducati racers to give them more space. However, those other racers are still competing intensely for every spot, as they haven't received any instructions to do otherwise.

"Next, consider what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who may not be leading but still have a viable shot."

Duncan mentioned, "Ducati should consider reviewing this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to collide with Pecco Bagnaia again, which could result in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race."

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

"Ducati should take the lead and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who have a chance to win 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 as Martin is currently at the top of the championship standings. They can't afford to let Martin join Aprilia while holding the number one position."

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

“He didn't seem pleased. It’s almost as if he saw the situation and thought: Pecco's crashed, Marc is back to winning races—which was a concern before they let him join Gresini—and Martin is currently at the top of the championship standings."

"They might be reflecting on how they could have kept both of those riders if the circumstances had been handled better and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac."

"I believe Ducati has several issues to address in the coming weeks, and one crucial aspect is that they must handle the situation more effectively, or they risk embarrassing themselves by the end of the season."

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