Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is not the most popular of MotoGP riders in certain areas of the world. A lot of that is down to his intense rivalry with Valentino Rossi.
The pair became sworn enemies in the premier class in the 2010s as they battled for the world championship. Marquez is not especially liked in Italy because of their support for Rossi.
This is evident even after Rossi’s retirement, as the Spaniard was booed by the home crowd after winning at Mugello this year. Davide Tardozzi claims Marquez is ready to make peace with Rossi, with the Ducati team manager coming to his rider’s defence for the reception he received in Italy.
Marquez has ‘never’ contacted Rossi after their rivalry in MotoGP as he looks to equal his record in 2025. The 32-year-old is on course to win his seventh title as he sits 68 points ahead of brother Alex Marquez after 10 rounds.
The Ducati rider claimed a 37-point maximum last time out at Assen, despite crashing twice in Friday’s practice sessions. Marquez beat Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi and his teammate Francesco Bagnaia at the Dutch Grand Prix, with both of them being products of Rossi’s VR46 academy.
‘No one’ on the MotoGP grid has a bigger ‘grudge’ towards Marc Marquez than Marco Bezzecchi
Given Rossi owns his own team in MotoGP, it is no surprise that his riders will have some disdain towards Marquez. According to journalist Oriol Puigdemont, ‘no one’ on the grid has more of a ‘grudge’ towards him than Bezzecchi.
The 26-year-old, who has grabbed 10 podiums in his MotoGP career, first joined Rossi’s VR46 team in 2020 in Moto2, before stepping up to the premier class in 2021. He finished third that season and in 2023 in his four seasons with the team before joining Aprilia.
Speaking via the Motorsport Espana YouTube channel, Puigdemont says there is a ‘long history’ between Bezzecchi and Marquez, given the former’s ‘influence’ from Rossi.
“There is something even more crushing, which is first, the race on Sunday with Bezzecchi is absolutely crushing.
“I mean there is no one, at least until a few months ago, there is no one who has more of a grudge against Marc Marquez from the current grid than Marco Bezzecchi.
“Because they had them, apart from that, we all know the influence that Marco Bezzecchi receives on or from Valentino Rossi etc. There is a very long history behind the two of them.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Marc Marquez is going to extreme lengths to equal Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP titles
While Rossi’s rivalry with Marquez is survived by his MotoGP team and riders, the latter is looking to catch his records while the Italian is now committed to sports car racing.
Marquez will not follow Rossi’s path to race on four wheels after he retires from MotoGP. Now, he is focused on grabbing his seventh title, as much as Marquez says equalling Rossi is not the priority.
The Spaniard has been working hard behind the scenes for years after sustaining serious injuries in a crash at Jerez in 2020. His intense training regime has made his comeback all the more remarkable.
Marquez is doing ‘military discipline’ training in his bid to win the 2025 championship. After claiming another clean sweep at Assen, he is well on his way to return to the top once again.
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