It would be great for MotoGP 2024 title rivals Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, heading into a two-round rematch after the former narrowly defeated the latter last year, hated each other's guts.
But they don't, and - regardless of the philosophical question of whether or not one should want their good relationship to spoil for the sake of the show - this is not a solvable problem.
Though two different characters and both more than capable of airing dirty laundry in public (Martin generally more willing and relaxed about doing so than Bagnaia), the two have gladly passed up every opportunity to play up the discord between themselves.
No outside narrative has survived their entente cordiale aimed at not escalating this beyond a straightforward fight between two professionals who respect each other.
The fact they haven't raced each other as much as their championship position might imply has played a part in this - but they've raced each other enough for animosity to flare up. It has not. It is not there.
A slight verbal faux-pas by Bagnaia in (incorrectly) intimating Martin had breached track limits in the sprint more times than is allowed last weekend fizzled out immediately.
Likewise, Martin's Turn 1 divebomb in the same sprint, and his track limits-breaching overtake on Bagnaia later in that race, were both waved away as fair game by the two-time champion.
This is not a case of perfect harmony between best friends - you often get the feeling that Bagnaia's willingness to pontificate on various matters when talking to the media isn't something Martin hugely appreciates, but also that Bagnaia probably gets more irritated by Martin's fairly aggressive wheel-to-wheel style than he lets on.
But that's not fertile ground for a feud.
Pedro Acosta, long on the record in expressing his appreciation for the kayfabe (presenting staged performances as genuine) of a vicious title rivalry in racing, summed up many people's feelings earlier in the season when he said: "I really respect how they are making it - but, I don't know, it can be more fun."
Clearly it is not personal for Martin against Bagnaia. Clearly it is not personal for Bagnaia against Martin. With two rounds left, should MotoGP just accept this title fight as an impersonal matter and let the innately-obvious value of the championship trophy generate the drama?
Maybe. But just because the title fight isn't personal between the two doesn't mean it isn't personal.
When in light of his comments Acosta was offered the opportunity to pitch a question towards the two rivals, he very perceptively zeroed in on a massive sore spot - Ducati's role as the impartial (?) observer in this contest.
He asked both Bagnaia and Martin whether Ducati, whose interest in keeping the #1 plate with Bagnaia is self-evident given the fact Martin is leaving for Aprilia next season, would try to put its thumb on the scale.
Bagnaia has faced this question many times, and after tackling it on Acosta's initiative he's faced it again from the media last weekend.
"I know that it's quite hard to believe but I never had any help from anyone in Ducati. I never asked and I never want it," he emphasised.
"I always liked clean races, clean battles, and I've always been as clean as possible, I will never touch anyone to overtake. I've always been like this.
"And also I don't want any help from others. Or, I will never ask for help from others."
His wish may well be granted, as his KTM-bound team-mate Enea Bastianini - now mathematically out of the title race - made it pretty clear at Buriram that he would not entertain assisting Bagnaia's title shot at Sepang. The other likeliest interloper, Marc Marquez, has also shown no interest at all in tipping the scales.
But even if Bagnaia won't get a leg up from Ducati, he is its proxy in the real feud that runs through this title battle.
That Martin has no beef with Bagnaia does not mean he has no beef with Ducati. And that might sound absurd given he is a Ducati-contracted rider right now fighting to win a title for Ducati, but Martin-Ducati is a contract, not an alliance.
Martin being snubbed for a works Ducati seat is part of MotoGP's biggest story this season, and as far as he is concerned it's happened three times already - once in 2022, when Ducati surprised him by handing a seat to Bastianini instead; once in 2023, when Ducati didn't swap them around after Bastianini's injury-ravaged first season in factory red; and of course once more this year, when Ducati settled on Marquez.
There was another reminder of that sourness in Buriram. As part of an unrelated answer, Bagnaia said of Martin that "his bike in '22 wasn't that good" - prompting some clapping and chuckling from Martin, who interjected: "Thank you! Finally!".
He had a GP22 like Bagnaia that year but was stuck due to homologation rules with a slightly different - and clearly worse, in his eyes - engine spec, and he felt Ducati failed to recognise that as it instead prioritised promoting Bastianini, who was making hay on an extremely polished Ducati GP21.
So, that was already something of an insult. And now, Ducati choosing Marquez for 2025 pretty obviously broke Martin's heart. He felt like a "fool", he later told Spanish broadcaster DAZN.
Aprilia has underwhelmed as of late, so any 2025 "revenge tour" feels like a pipe dream. Which means the revenge tour has to be now, in proving Ducati wrong and making the people who chose not to promote him look on in frustration as the number one decal is applied to the Aprilia RS-GP next year.
Add to that the fact Martin is riding for a team in Pramac that is itself leaving Ducati on not the absolute best terms, if some of the comments earlier this year are anything to go by, and you have your title rivalry with a bit of personal flavour.
It's not necessarily personal from Ducati's side, which - as a manufacturer entity, at least - has continued to insist it will not interfere and doesn't have a preference.
"We have to be fair. It's a sport. The best rider has to win. We have to give both of them the best possible material, the best possible information to set up properly the bike. And, at the end, the best will win," Ducati general manager Gigi Dall'Igna told MotoGP.com.
But Martin and the Ducati works team are clearly rivals here - and history between them can provide the very needle and very context that some feel MotoGP's title fight has been lacking.
