The Portuguese GP was inevitably marked by a clash of MotoGP titans, with Marc Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia crashing near the end of Sunday’s race in Portimão. Both riders were well positioned and were sure to score points, but dramatically crashed two laps from the finish.
When Márquez’s signing with Gresini Racing was officialized, many voices rose to claim that the Borgo Panigale manufacturer would have to carefully manage the riders with the Desmosedici, and that a rider of Márquez’s caliber would certainly “shake” the structure, in reference to the egos of the Ducati athletes.
After a Qatar GP where everything went smoothly in terms of this clash of egos, battles, and rivalries on the track, a new chapter emerged on Sunday at the Portugal GP, promising many intense chapters to come.
If Márquez is an impetuous and very aggressive rider on track, the truth is that looking at the general comments among the current grid riders and beyond, even though it was a racing incident, as the Race Direction’s opinion, the “blame” for who is responsible for what has generally fallen on Bagnaia.
Among the Ducati officials, Davide Tardozzi has already spoken, quoted by MotoSprint, in agreement with the Race Direction and in an expectation to calm tensions between the parties, stating: ‘Without a doubt, it was a racing incident. It is clear that in certain situations it would be better to be calmer, but the two riders have explained themselves, so I think it is something resolved and closed with a handshake’.
Gigi Dall’Igna, on Linkedin, had previously stated: ‘The incident involving Pecco and Marc was very unfortunate, denying both the chance to score important points for the championship standings in a complex race where they were unable to fight for the win. Honestly, any other comments would be very superfluous’.
Commenting on the situation, Márquez said he spoke with Bagnaia and that he explained himself, anticipating that the #1 may have learned from the moment: ‘[…] Pecco told me he was thinking about two more points and defending the position. In the first laps you need to be aggressive, in the last laps if you are fighting for the win maybe you can be aggressive. But in this race I think it wasn’t the moment to be like that. But, well, he decided. and surely he will learn’, and added:
– […] It’s a racing incident on the limit, on the red line. But the stewards have to decide what the limit is. So, in the end, it’s clear to me that it was Pecco’s mistake, but not just the incident. Because in the end he tried to recover, he was too optimistic and there was contact and it can happen. But it was a mistake in which we were fighting for fifth/sixth place – two more points, two fewer points. And he was having a lot of difficulties, especially with the rear tire. So, in the end, three/four laps from the end you know you’re going to lose the position, so it wasn’t necessary to recover in such an aggressive way. But he decided that way. The consequence was zero points for Ducati.
On Bagnaia’s side, he reacted like this to the incident: ‘When Marc arrived, he just tried to overtake, ran wide, I tried to close the line, he closed his line and we collided. It’s something that makes me angry, but it’s normal. It’s a racing incident and we have to move on to the next. […] When he overtook me, he ran wide. When a rider ahead of you that you’re fighting with goes wide, what do you want to do? Overtake him again to score more points. From my side, it wasn’t risky‘.
Now it remains to be seen what will happen in the upcoming races, because looking at the performance on the bike, there is no doubt that Márquez is a factor to consider in what could be the championship and the champion, with a direct or more indirect influence and with other riders very attentive to what can happen among all the “roosters in the same henhouse”.
