**Title: “Ducati’s Dilemma: Navigating Team Dynamics After Bagnaia-Marquez Aragon Clash”**

Should Ducati intervene following the Bagnaia-Alex Marquez incident?

Podcast discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed far enough to tell other Ducati riders that they are no longer in contention and should therefore hold back in such situations?"

The contentious collision between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez during the late stages of Sunday's Aragon MotoGP race resulted in both Ducati riders losing their spots on the final podium.

This also implied that Bagnaia, the reigning champion 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 a question:

The race's main highlight was the intense fight for a podium spot between Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez. Bagnaia seemed poised to overtake Marquez, and it appeared inevitable. But then, an incident occurred.

"What did you think about the situation? I believe it happened not too long ago. Clearly, every rider is pointing fingers at the others…"

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

"Almost everything went awry for him: he had two tire problems, qualified on the less favorable side of the track, and to top it all off, he collided just when it seemed inevitable that he would overtake Alex Marquez for third place."

"Alex was clearly eager to perform well in front of his home crowd and had hopes of joining Marc on the podium during his remarkable return. As you can imagine, he was reluctant to surrender his position, and ultimately, there simply wasn't enough space for both of them."

The issue at hand is, who noticed whom, and who was responsible for making space? The Stewards decided that no additional measures were necessary. They mentioned reviewing some data from the machinery, although the specifics are unclear.

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

"When two riders from the same team are involved in a crash, the manufacturer has access to the data for both bikes. Ducati definitely took advantage of this capability. They did something similar after the Portimao incident when Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. Marc tried to defuse the situation by casually mentioning, 'Ducati has all the data…'"

"Pecco is now claiming that the data indicates he wasn't at fault. Did the Stewards review this information too? If they had, would it have influenced their decision? 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, to understand where each rider was focusing their attention."

"An event on the track with significant consequences. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the maximum points this weekend, and it's a relief that both Pecco and Alex Marquez did not sustain serious injuries."

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

"I'll challenge the prevailing view with some data," said MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan. "Whenever data is mentioned, I can't help but recall Honda in 2015. They were so confident in their data that they claimed it would prove Valentino kicked Marc, and they were ready to present it to everyone!"

"If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco. We've witnessed similar behavior from him in the past—during the race in Portugal and somewhat in the Sprint race at Jerez. It appears that Pecco struggles 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 evident he was going to re-enter, so why place your bike in that spot? It's bound to result in a collision. You should navigate the corner more skillfully."

"At Jerez, when he found himself squeezed between Bezzecchi and Brad Binder – you're faster than both of them, so pull back. Don't engage in a fight. The same advice applies to this situation."

"You noticed that Alex didn't check his surroundings. He was trailing Alex when Alex went off the track at Turn 12. You've seen that he is unaware of your presence. You know that Turn 13 is a tight spot, especially when you make a right turn. It's very likely that Alex will be there."

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic, especially if you're contending for the championship. I believe Alex should have checked behind him and thought, ‘This is going to be close. I'll pull back and try to recover later.’ Pecco should have had a similar mindset, thinking, ‘There's still time. I can make my move later.’"

"In each instance I've highlighted, Pecco has ended up in the worst position and has lost points as a result. I believe Ducati should have a discussion with Pecco about choosing his battles wisely when interacting with other riders. They should emphasize that finishing in 4th place is preferable to ending up with no points at all."

"Pecco occasionally seems to have a hard time accepting what's available. If you consider Martin, for instance, in recent weeks, he has consistently taken second place when it was achievable. As a result, he's now leading 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 is performing flawlessly and consistently scoring points."

"And that brings us to the topic we all dislike: team orders," McLaren remarked. "It's hard not to compare Sunday's race to previous years when other Ducati riders understood they needed to give the title contenders some extra space."

"There's currently some uncertainty since we haven't progressed far enough into the season to tell the other Ducati riders that they are mathematically out of contention and should therefore step aside in such scenarios."

"Pecco and Martin might believe that their lead in the championship will lead other Ducati riders to give them more space. However, those other riders are actually thinking, 'We haven't received any instructions, so we're still competing fiercely for every spot.'"

"Another point to consider is what advice you would give to Marc Marquez and Bastianini. Although they are slightly behind the leading duo, they still have a genuine opportunity."

Duncan stated, "In my opinion, Ducati should review this situation for its own benefit. The last thing you want is another collision between Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, which could result in Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race."

"We've observed how extremely toxic the fan base can become in such circumstances when they believe 'this happened, sabotage, etcetera.'"

"Ducati should take charge and declare: ‘These are our top contenders for the title. These are the riders who can win the championship. If you are not among them, don't compete aggressively against them’."

"We hope to avoid this scenario, but it's a dire situation for Ducati with Martin at the top of the championship. Allowing Martin to switch to Aprilia while holding the number one position is not an option for them."

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

"He seemed quite discontent. It was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco has crashed out, Marc is securing victories – a scenario they were initially concerned might disrupt the balance before letting him join Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

"They need to consider that if things had been handled differently and Marc had been willing to join Pramac, they could have had both of those riders on their team."

"In my opinion, Ducati has several issues to address in the upcoming weeks. One crucial aspect is improving their management of the current situation, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the end of the season."

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