From idolatry Valentino Rossi to being friends with a nine-time world champion, to having one of the more intense rivalries in MotoGP history, let’s look back at what went wrong between Mark Marquez and the worshipped Italian.
Both riders undoubtedly had the two most dominant success stretches the Premier Class has ever seen. And after witnessing the two greats fighting for several years, Marquez won in the meantime – the two will remain the biggest icons of the sport, even as Rossi retired at the end of 2021 and Marquez enjoys a very limited success.
That being said, the time spent on their truck has gone through a variety of challenging patches, including incidents in Malaysia that live long in memory.
Idol-worship Rossi quickly became competitive fuel for six-time MotoGP champion Marquez
After holding a Valentino Rossi poster on the wall as a child, Marquez and Rossi’s relationship began with the two posing together. That was before Marquez approached becoming a MotoGP rider.
The most notable picture was of Rossi and Marquez as a child who won the die-cast model, signed by a charismatic Italian.
However, as Marc Marquez progressed through Moto3 and Moto2, his desire to compete to beat his idols was already evident in his rookie MotoGP season (2013).
Despite being a rookie, Marquez won the World Championship before combining success in the dominant campaign in 2014.
Marquez, Germany MotoGP 2017
©Gold and Goose
The race was difficult between the two, but it didn’t get out of hand as Marquez often pulls back to the amount he admired and admired Rossi in press conferences and interviews.
Did Valentino Rossi kick Mark Marquez?
But then came 2015, a season when Rossi was heading for title #10 (8th in MotoGP).
Instead, he says the 2015 title fight was an All Yamaha event, and that’s when things got interesting.
Things got sour in the next race where Marquez and Rossi gathered in Sepang after snatching the point when Australian Jorge Lorenzo was piping Yamaha riders for victory.
Marquez, who was soon becoming a personal battle, had a very aggressive move on Rossi.
Clearly the belief that Marquez had put in his best efforts to help Lorenzo, as a result, he was costly for the World Championships, and the seven-time MotoGP champion he used after the events of Malaysia, Rossi became famous for going inside Marquez in 14 turns, then intentionally knocking off Marquez.
With replays available, Rossi’s feet were caught in Marquez’s bike, and it was clear that it was not an intentional move, but Rossi proceeded slowly with him, and Marquez fell from his RC213V when contact was made.
As expected, Lorenzo won the race after setting up a new lap record, leading to Rossi missing his 10th title.
Malaysia 2015 was not the first major incident between the two. The arrival in Argentina (the same season) was also a major turning point in the relationship. When he tried to defeat Rossi in Rio Hondo Circuit terminology, Marquez crashed after cutting out the rear of Rossi’s M1.
Marquez crashes Rossi in Argentina
However, this was nothing compared to Argentina 2018, when another major incident occurred between the pair…
After stalling his Repsol Honda on the grid, Marquez was able to take the place on the grid. However, a few laps later, the Spaniard was hit by a ride-through penalty.
With Marquez being the fastest rider on the circuit, the now 29-year-old started to make strong charging through the field, but his aggression made Honda riders better.
After some moments with the other riders, one of them was the incident in which he met the behind Alex Espargaro and pushed the Aprilia rider a lot, with Marquez taking sixth behind Rossi.
When he tried to set up a move to the final right-handed (penultimate corner), Marquez slowed the brakes along with Rossi, bringing similar contact to Marquez’s collision with Espargaro, but this time he crashed Rossi. Marquez was then hit by a 30-second penalty.
Marquez “destroyed our sport” – Rossi
After the incident, Marquez walked to Yamaha’s garage but was told to leave immediately, not to mention that the relationship has never been repaired.
Speaking about the incident, Rossi gave strong comments after the race. “This is a very bad situation because he destroyed our sport.
Valentino Rossi
©Gold and Goose
“You can make a mistake with braking, you can touch other guys – it happens, this is a race.
“But from Friday morning he did this with (Maverick) Vinaru, (Andrea) Dovizioso.
“He did this with me on a Saturday morning and in the race he went straight to four riders.
The response from Marquez was quick as he dismissed the notion that it was intentional and that it was simply “mistake.”
“Of course (the incident) about this I’m totally disappointed. In my career, I’ve never gone straight to a single rider thinking he’s going to crash.
“Sometimes (when) you overtake it, it’s close, sometimes it’s clear. What happened to Valentino today was a mistake.
One of the final moments of the two controversy was the same 2018 season as Marquez was blank in his attempt to shake hands with Rossi at Misano.
Asked if there might be peace between them during a pre-event press conference, Marquez insisted, “That would be fine,” and Rossi shook his head and said, “There’s no need to wave.”