**Title: “Ducati’s Dilemma: Should Team Orders Be Enforced After Bagnaia-Marquez Clash?”**

Should Ducati intervene following the incident involving Bagnaia and Alex Marquez?

Podcast discussion: "Is there some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell other Ducati racers, 'you're no longer in the running, so back off in such situations'?"

On Sunday, a contentious collision late in the race at the Aragon MotoGP between Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez resulted in both Ducati riders losing their spots on the podium.

This also implied 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, 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 inevitable. But then, an unexpected incident occurred."

“How did you perceive the situation? It seems to have happened not too long ago. Clearly, both riders are pointing fingers at each other…”

“A disastrous weekend for Bagnaia. It’s his worst performance in an event since the Sprint format was introduced last year,” commented Pete McLaren, editor of Crash.net MotoGP.

"Almost everything fell apart 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 right when it seemed inevitable that he would secure 3rd place from Alex Marquez."

"Clearly, Alex was competing in front of his local supporters and aiming to possibly stand next to Marc on the podium during his remarkable return. Therefore, you can understand he was reluctant to relinquish his position, and ultimately, there just wasn't enough space for both of them."

The issue now is, who spotted whom first? And who was responsible for making space? The Stewards decided not to pursue the matter further. They mentioned reviewing certain machine data, but the specifics remain 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 anticipate from a rider involved in a collision."

"When two riders crash and are riding the same type of bike, the manufacturer can access data from both bikes. Ducati likely reviewed this information. They did something similar after the Portimao incident, where Marc Marquez and Bagnaia had a collision. Marc tried to resolve the dispute over who was to blame by casually mentioning that, 'Ducati can see all the data…'"

"Pecco is now claiming that the data indicates he was not at fault. Did the Stewards have access to this information too? If they had reviewed what Pecco refers to in the data, would their decision have been different? 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 see where each rider was focusing their attention!"

"A racing incident with significant consequences. Pecco was fortunate that Marc prevented Martin from securing the highest points this weekend, and the most positive outcome is that neither Pecco nor Alex Marquez sustained serious injuries."

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

“I’ll challenge this perspective using data, as it reminds me of Honda in 2015. They were confident they had evidence showing Valentino kicking Marc and planned to reveal it publicly!” remarked Lewis Duncan, a journalist covering MotoGP.

"If I were to assign blame, I would place a bit more on Pecco, as this isn't the first time we've seen such behavior. Similar incidents occurred in Portugal and during the Sprint race at Jerez. Pecco appears to struggle with choosing the right moments to engage in battles."

In Portugal, we observed Marc's actions. Even if you couldn't see him from the outside, you knew he would return, so why would you position your bike there? It's clear that this would lead to a collision; you need to navigate the corner more skillfully.

"In 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 a battle. The same advice applies to this situation."

"You noticed that Alex didn’t check his surroundings. He was behind Alex when Alex veered off course at Turn 12. It’s clear he’s unaware of your presence. You’re aware that Turn 13 is a tight spot when you make a right turn. It’s very likely that Alex will be there."

"In my opinion, you need to be more strategic when you're competing for the championship. Alex could have been more cautious by checking behind him and thinking, 'This is close. I'll pull back and try to regain the position later.' Similarly, Pecco should have considered that there was still enough time to make his move and finish the job."

"Every time Pecco has been involved in those situations, he has ended up in a worse position and lost points as a result. I believe Ducati should have a talk with Pecco and advise him to choose his battles wisely. Finishing in 4th place is more beneficial than ending the race without any points."

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

Moreland responded: “Pete, this situation is similar to what happened with Bagnaia and Vinales at Le Mans last season. It’s unfortunate timing, as Martin is currently performing flawlessly and accumulating points.”

McLaren addressed the dreaded topic of team orders, saying, "This inevitably brings us to the issue we all dislike. It's hard not to compare Sunday's race with previous years when other Ducati riders were aware they needed to allow more space for the championship contenders."

"Right now, there's some uncertainty because the season hasn't progressed enough to tell the other Ducati racers that they're mathematically out of the running and should back off in that scenario."

"Perhaps Pecco and Martin believe that, since they're leading the championship, the other Ducati riders will give them more space on the track. However, those riders are still under the impression that the directive hasn't changed and are competing fiercely for every spot."

"Next, we must consider what advice to offer Marc Marquez and Bastianini, who are slightly trailing the leading pair yet remain in contention."

Duncan commented, “I believe it’s essential for Ducati to examine this situation for its own benefit. The last thing they need is for Alex Marquez to clash again with Pecco Bagnaia, which could lead to Martin gaining more points while Marc leads the race.”

"We've observed how incredibly toxic the fan base can become in scenarios where they believe 'this event has occurred, sabotage, and so on'."

"Ducati should 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 push them too aggressively.'"

"We hope to avoid that scenario, but it's a troubling situation for Ducati with Martin currently at the top of the championship standings. Allowing Martin to move to Aprilia while holding the number one position would be unthinkable for them."

"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 was as though he observed the situation and thought: Pecco has crashed, Marc is securing victories – a concern they had about disrupting the balance before permitting his move to Gresini – and Martin is at the top of the championship standings."

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

"There are numerous issues that Ducati needs to address in the upcoming weeks. One key aspect is their need for better situation management, or they risk facing significant embarrassment by the end of the season."

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