**Title: Ducati’s Dilemma: Managing Team Dynamics After the Bagnaia-Marquez Clash in Aragon MotoGP** — This title captures the essence of the article, highlighting the key elements of Ducati’s internal challenges following the incident between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez. It sets

Should Ducati intervene following the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez clash?

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 hold back in such scenarios'?"

The heated incident between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the last stages of the Aragon MotoGP on Sunday resulted in both Ducati racers losing their spots on the podium.

This also signified that reigning champion Bagnaia, who had come to Spain with a five-point lead in the title race, 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 following question:

"The main highlight of the race was the intense duel between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez for a podium finish. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez, and it appeared only a matter of time before he did. However, an unexpected incident then occurred."

"What are your thoughts on the situation? It seems to have happened not long ago. Clearly, both riders are accusing each other…"

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

Nearly everything went awry for him: he faced two tire problems, qualified on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, got into a collision at a moment when, as you've mentioned, it seemed inevitable that he would secure 3rd place from Alex Marquez.

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his hometown supporters and aiming to possibly stand alongside Marc on the podium during his remarkable return. Therefore, you can understand that he was reluctant to yield, and ultimately, there simply wasn’t enough space for both of them."

The issue now is, who noticed the other first? And who was responsible for making more space? The Stewards decided not to take any additional steps. They mentioned that they reviewed some technical data, though the specifics are unclear.

"But the data aspect was intriguing because, according to Pecco's statement after the verdict, the data indicated that Alex perhaps didn't slow down as much as one would typically anticipate from a rider involved in a crash."

"When two racers get into an accident while riding the same type of motorcycles, the manufacturer can access the performance data for both. Ducati has certainly done this. We are aware that they did the same thing after the incident at Portimao, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia crashed into each other. Marc Marquez tried to defuse the blame game by stating, 'Ducati can see all the data…'"

"Pecco is now claiming that the data exonerates him from any fault. It's unclear whether the Stewards had access to this data. If they did, would it have influenced their decision? It's uncertain."

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

"A racing event with significant consequences occurred. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the highest points this weekend. The most positive aspect is that both Pecco and Alex Marquez did not sustain serious injuries."

"Lewis, what do you think about this?" Moreland asked.

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan commented, “Whenever someone mentions data, I can't help but remember Honda in 2015. They were so sure they had evidence showing Valentino had kicked Marc and were eager to present it to everyone!”

“If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've witnessed similar behavior previously. It happened in Portugal and also somewhat during the Sprint race in Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with knowing when to engage in battles.”

In Portugal, we observed a situation with Marc. 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? Such a move is bound to lead to a collision. You need to handle the corner more strategically.

"In Jerez, when he ended up getting squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, he should have just pulled back because he was faster than both of them. There's no need to engage in the battle. The situation was similar this time as well."

“You observed that Alex didn’t check his surroundings. He was following Alex when Alex took a wide turn at Turn 12. You noticed he’s unaware of your presence. You’re aware that Turn 13 is a tight spot when you switch to the right. And it's very probable that Alex will be there."

"I believe that when you're competing for a championship, you need to be smarter about how you play the game. For instance, Alex should have glanced back and thought, 'This is going to be close. I’ll step back and try to make a comeback later.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered that there was still enough time to make his move."

“In all the instances I've talked about, Pecco has ended up in the worst position and lost points because of it. I believe Ducati should have a conversation with Pecco and advise him to be more selective about when to engage with other riders. They could tell him, ‘Finishing in 4th place is preferable to ending up with no points at all’.”

“It seems that Pecco occasionally has difficulty accepting the position he can secure in a race. In contrast, when you observe Martin's performance in recent weeks, he has consistently accepted second place when it was the best available option. 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 now because Martin is performing consistently without errors and accumulating points."

"And this brings us to the topic we all dislike: team orders," stated McLaren. "It's inevitable to draw comparisons between Sunday's race and previous years, where other Ducati riders understood they needed to allow the title contenders more space."

"There's some uncertainty right now since we're still early in the season and can't yet tell the other Ducati riders that they're mathematically out of the running, so they should just hold back in that scenario."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe that, being frontrunners in the championship, they will receive more leeway from fellow Ducati racers. However, those teammates are likely thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

"Then there is the matter of what advice you might offer Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leaders but still have a feasible opportunity."

Duncan stated, "I believe Ducati should consider this for its benefit. The last thing you want is another clash between Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, which could result in Martin scoring 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 happened, sabotage, etc.'"

"Ducati should take the lead and declare: 'These are our contenders for the title. These are the riders who have the potential 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 troubling prospect for Ducati with Martin currently leading the championship. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia while holding the top position is something they can't afford to happen."

"I found it intriguing to observe Gigi Dall’Igna's reaction after Marc finished the race. He appeared quite… distressed. It seemed like he was burdened by something."

"That individual did not seem content. It appeared as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco is off track, Marc is securing victories – an outcome they were initially concerned about disrupting before permitting him to join Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They must consider that, if circumstances had been handled another way and if Marc had been willing to join Pramac, we could have had both of those riders on our team."

According to reports, Ducati has several issues to address in the upcoming weeks. One significant concern is improving their management of the current situation to avoid potential embarrassment by the season's end.

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