**Title: “Ducati’s Dilemma: Assessing the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez Aragon Clash and Its Championship Implications”**

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

Podcast discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because the season is still early, making it difficult to tell other Ducati riders that they are no longer in contention and should therefore avoid such situations?"

In Sunday’s Aragon MotoGP, a contentious collision in the closing stages of the race occurred between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez, resulting in both Ducati riders losing their chances for a podium finish.

This also implied that Bagnaia, the reigning champion who had come with a five-point lead in the title race, departed Spain injured and trailing Jorge Martin by 23 points.

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

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

“What are your thoughts on the event? It seems to have occurred not long ago. Clearly, both cyclists are holding each other responsible…”

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

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

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and was aiming to possibly stand alongside Marc on the podium during his notable return. Therefore, it's understandable that he was reluctant to relinquish his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't sufficient space for both of them."

The issue now is, who noticed the other person first? And who ought to have left more space? The Stewards decided not to take any additional measures. They mentioned reviewing certain technical data, but the specifics remain unclear.

"The data aspect was intriguing, as Pecco later mentioned that the information indicated Alex might not have slowed down as much as one would normally expect in a crash situation."

"When two riders experience an incident while using the same type of motorcycles, the manufacturer has access to the data for both. This is precisely what Ducati would have reviewed. It's known that they did this after the Portimao event when Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. Marc Marquez made a brief comment to resolve the debate on who was to blame by stating, 'Ducati has access to all the data…'"

Pecco claims that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards review this data too? If they had, would it have altered their decision? It's uncertain.

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

"A racing mishap with significant consequences. Pecco benefited from Marc preventing Martin from securing top points this weekend, and the most positive aspect is that neither Pecco nor Alex Marquez sustained serious injuries."

Moreland asked Lewis for his opinion.

"I’m going to challenge the data perspective a bit, because every time someone mentions data, I can't help but think of Honda in 2015. They were convinced they had evidence that Valentino had kicked Marc and were ready to present it to everyone!" stated MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan.

"If I were to assign responsibility, I would place a bit more on Pecco because we've witnessed similar behavior from him in the past. We've observed it in Portugal and again during the Sprint race in Jerez. It appears that Pecco struggles to choose his battles wisely."

In Portugal, we observed Marc's actions. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would return to the inside. So, why would you position your bike there? It's clear that would result in a collision. You should navigate the corner more effectively.

"At Jerez, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have backed off since he was faster than both of them. There was no need to engage in the fight. The same principle applied here."

"It was clear that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex went off course at Turn 12. It's evident that Alex is unaware of your presence. You know Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you turn right. Alex is very likely to be there."

"You need to be more strategic, especially if you're competing for the championship. Alex should have checked his rear and thought, 'It's going to be close; I'll pull back and try to counter later.' Pecco should have had a similar mindset, thinking, 'There's still enough time; I can make my move later.'"

"Every time Pecco has been involved in such situations, he has ended up worse off and lost points. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to be more strategic when engaging with other riders. They should emphasize that securing a 4th place finish is better than ending the race with no points."

"Pecco seems to occasionally have difficulty accepting the position he can achieve. In contrast, Martin has consistently accepted second place when that was the best option available to him in recent weeks. As a result, he now leads the championship by 23 points."

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

“That brings us to the dreaded topic of team orders,” stated McLaren. “It’s hard not to draw parallels between Sunday's race and previous years, where Ducati’s other riders understood they needed to allow more space for the title contenders.”

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

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe they will be afforded more leeway by other Ducati racers due to their lead in the championship. However, those racers are likely thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions so far, so we're still competing fiercely for each spot.'"

"Another consideration is what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leaders but still remain strong contenders."

Duncan commented that Ducati should consider examining the situation for its benefit. According to him, it would be undesirable for Alex Marquez to have another clash with Pecco Bagnaia, leading to Jorge Martin gaining more points while Marc Marquez leads the race.

"We've observed how toxic the fan base can become in such scenarios, when they believe there has been sabotage, etc."

"Ducati has to take the lead 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 against them aggressively.'"

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it's a worst-case situation for Ducati with Martin at the top of the championship. They can't afford to let Martin move to Aprilia as the reigning champion."

"I found it intriguing when we observed Gigi Dall’Igna's reaction after Marc finished the race. He seemed quite… distressed. He appeared burdened by something."

"He did not seem content. It was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco is out of the race, Marc is securing victories—which had initially concerned them about disturbing the balance before they permitted him to join Gresini—and now Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

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

"In my opinion, Ducati has several issues to address in the coming weeks. One critical task is to improve their management of the current situation, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the end of the season."

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