“He stayed at 60% throttle until we crashed!”

Aragon made headlines in a weekend full of everything from the return of the King to the controversial duel between Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia. The action on track got fans around the world talking and sharing their opinions, but the riders at the centre of the action had their say too. Here are the main talking points and hottest headlines from the Aragon Grand Prix.

“I heard his engine accelerate”

World Champion Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was furious after his collision with Alex Marquez at MotorLand Aragon. With six laps to go, the two were neck and neck for the final podium spot before contact occurred at Turn 13. The Italian was adamant that Marquez was responsible for the accident, pointing to the Spaniard's data, which he said showed that he did not roll off the ground at any point during the accident.

“I was completely in front. Even before I changed direction. What makes me even angrier is looking at the data. Because as soon as I entered Turn 10, I was in front and I left space because I knew it was there, but I was much faster. So I didn't have to close the line to be in front.

“As soon as I did it, when I entered Turn 10, I heard his engine go into throttle. That's bad. And what was even worse was the fact that he was between 40 and 60% throttle until he crashed.

“So it's very dangerous when someone does something like that because normally you try to avoid contact. You don't want to have contact with anyone. And according to the data, after what happened, someone disagrees.”

“I DIDN’T SEEN HIM”

However, Alex Marquez of Gresini Racing strongly disagreed with Bagnaia's opinion, saying that he could not see and was not aware that he was fighting the world champion.

“Pecco decided to make that move from the outside. He was really brave and made that really clear. But he knew I was there. So, I mean, at least keep a meter away from me. If anyone can avoid contact, it's him. He knew I was there. I didn't see him at any moment. I didn't expect the contact.”

“You have to give a little more space”

Aprilia Racing's Aleix Espargaro also commented on the incident, saying that Bagnaia could have done a little more to prevent the collision between the two.

“It's a crash we've seen many times in MotoGP, especially recently. But in my opinion, when you come from the outside like Pecco, you have to leave more space for the rider on the inside. Alex can't disappear. He can accelerate, but why does he have to do that? This is a race, so if you want to avoid a crash, you have to leave a little more space.”

“ALEX’S FAULT. HE PROVOKED IT”

Miguel Oliveira of Trackhouse Racing, Aprilia colleague, saw the incident somewhat differently. The Portuguese rider was convinced that Marquez was in the wrong.

“Alex is to blame. He provoked it. That's how I see it. It's a strange situation because he went too wide and knew that Pecco was taking the outside line. So he finally went for the corner, but he had half a bike behind him. And he just leaned against it. He could have taken his foot off the gas, but it happened too quickly. He got stuck on his bike and that was it.”

“I already knew that during the test in Valencia”

Despite having spent over 1,000 days on the podium, Marc Marquez wasn't too worried about the wait until he would be back on top of the podium. The eight-time world champion revealed after just one day on the bike that he knew he would have a chance of winning in 2024.

“On During the test in Valencia, I realised that this was going to happen. I realised that we would have our chances. One thing is to fight for the championship. We have to keep working for that. But in Valencia, I started to understand that sooner or later I would arrive. For that reason, I was calm and didn't overdo it too much.”