MotoGP riders react to the accident involving Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez

The 2024 MotoGP title fight took another turn in Aragon as the seemingly unflappable Francesco Bagnaia could do very little right.

Bagnaia was the scene of one of his best MotoGP victories, which also happened to be his first win in MotoGP. In 2021, he won in Aragon, beating Marc Marquez in a thrilling head-to-head. In total, there were 14 overtakes between the two that day, but it was clear very early in the weekend that Bagnaia had no answer to Marquez this time.

In fact, Bagnaia had no answer for his title rival Jorge Martin either, although it was still a shock to see Bagnaia's weekend go off the rails like that. After terrible starts in both races, the Italian needed to make a big comeback, but he failed to do so in the sprint, as he was even beaten by the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.

At the Grand Prix, Bagnaia recovered from his poor start and caught the riders in front of him, but when he arrived behind Alex Marquez, the title fight took a different turn.

After losing the series lead to Martin in Saturday's sprint, Bagnaia opened up a 20-point lead on Sunday when he collided with Alex Marquez. Both riders went down immediately after the contact, with Bagnaia trapped under Marquez's bike for part of the slide into the gravel trap.

It was no surprise that the accident was a big topic of conversation immediately after the race, even given that Marc Marquez had won his first race in over 1,000 days.

Marquez led the reaction, saying: “I think Alex went too far. He was on the track, but when he came into the right-hand corner he didn't expect Pecco [Bagnaia] there. Pecco was optimistic about overtaking him from the outside and tried to use that clean line because when you go to the dirty line everything becomes riskier. It was a very unfortunate situation.”

Marc Marquez

Martin, who was second behind Marquez in both races in Aragon, also reacted to the collision, saying: “It's difficult. You should ask Pecco [Bagnaia] and Alex [Marquez] [what happened]. It's hard to see, of course, because there was a lot of dust on that side too, so I think Alex couldn't lean any further like what happened to Joe Roberts in Moto2 (Roberts crashed on the last lap while battling with his American Racing teammate Marcos Ramirez) and eventually there was contact. Hopefully they're OK because after the crash it seemed like they were close to the bikes, so I hope they're OK for the next race.”

If you're a neutral fan of the sport, you'll probably see the collision as nothing more than a racing accident. And the more replays I've personally watched, the more I can't deny that this was the right decision by race officials. But does that tell the whole story? Maybe not.

It is clear that Bagnaia would still prevail. The two-time defending champion rode not angrily, but with a determination that did not allow him to let Marquez catch up in front of him.

But that forced Marquez to act in some ways, because the Gresini rider, who was still in front when the bikes started to change direction, was looking exactly in the natural direction of the corner. Bagnaia, on the other hand, was the rider who could see both the rider in front of him and the corner, and yet he attacked deliberately from the outside.

One could argue that it was too late for Marquez to come out of the corner and that staying on the inside inevitably led to contact.

Johann Zarco, former Ducati rider and now LCR Honda rider, expressed his views: “Pecco has lost a lot and it could be a similar situation to [Maverick] Vinales in Le Mans. [That was a racing incident] But this time too, when they turned into the curve, Alex was not far behind – he was perhaps still in front.

“Pecco was in a better lane, but just because Pecco was in a better lane, Alex didn't have to say, 'Okay, I'll slow down and wait for Pecco to come around the corner.' So I guess Pecco should have thought a little bit more about where Alex was.”

But what did the two drivers directly involved in the accident think of the whole thing?

Alex Marquez, who felt attacked after the weekend, defended himself on social media, saying: “After reading some statements, I would like to state the following: I would never intentionally collide with another rider and I will never accept being accused of that, it is not in my DNA and it is not in the DNA of this sport.”

“In my opinion, it is impossible that he did not see me. I was already ahead of him before I changed direction. The most important thing for me is the conversation I had with Pecco yesterday and from my side the problem is clear. Now it is time to rest and recover my body to be back at 100 percent in Misano.”

Bagnaia doesn’t hold back!

While most riders who spoke about the incident were fairly relaxed about the collision, Bagnaia was furious after the race. The Ducati factory rider was not impressed with Marquez and felt that the Spaniard was solely to blame.

Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez

“As soon as I [next] Corner [13] “I heard his engine start. He was accelerating. So he was trying to make that contact,” Bagnaia told MotoGP.com. “I wanted to look at that data… He stayed at 60 to 40 percent throttle until he crashed. That's very strange for a rider, I think.”

He added: “My opinion is the opinion of anyone who has a normal perspective on racing, because it is quite clear what happened. He was far out, I was in front with much more speed. I entered the corner without closing the line because I knew he was there. But my speed was high enough to overtake him without any problems. And as soon as I got into the [next] Corner [13] I heard his engine start.

“He was going full throttle. So he was trying to make contact. I wanted to look at the data… He stayed at 60 to 40 percent full throttle until he crashed. That's very strange for a driver, I think.”

Marquez winning in Aragon was no surprise. Martin finishing second and regaining the series lead was no surprise either. But Bagnaia having such a difficult weekend was certainly a shock.

Luckily for Ducati, it wasn't Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, who are set to be teammates next season, who clashed – can you imagine that! Bagnaia has already been involved in collisions with both Marquez brothers this season – Bagnaia and Marc Marquez collided at Portimao earlier this year – and both times it ended in a crash for both riders.

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