Marc Marquez told why he’ll ‘never be as popular’ as Valentino Rossi despite equalling his title haul

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Marc Marquez has matched Valentino Rossi by winning his seventh premier-class title and his ninth overall. But he’s been told that he still can’t touch ‘The Doctor’ when it comes to popularity.

Marquez and Rossi are the two most successful riders of the modern era – Giacomo Agostini remains above them in the leaderboard with eight top-level titles, but they came in the 1960s and ’70s.

Marquez is still 16 wins behind, but his imperious form at Ducati suggests that tally could be in reach by the end of next season. He would then flip the tiebreaker in his favour.

Speaking after he sealed the championship at Motegi, Marquez said it was an ‘honour’ to equal Rossi. The two riders were involved in one of motorcycle racing’s most explosive rivalries before the latter retired, though they still aren’t on speaking terms.

Mat Oxley says Valentino Rossi was ‘bigger than motorcycle racing’

Writing in a column for Motor Sport Magazine, Mat Oxley, a biographer of both Marquez and Rossi, said there was no contest when it came to popularity. He compared the Italian to boxing icon Muhammad Ali in that he has transcended his sport.

But Oxley says this shouldn’t weaken his case in the greatest-of-all-time debate. Having spoken to ‘allies and enemies’ of Marquez, he’s bumped him to the top of his ‘GOAT podium’.

Marquez has channelled Rossi at certain races this year by attracting the same level of ‘hero worship’ from the crowd. He received messages from across the sporting world after last Sunday’s coronation, with tennis legend Rafael Nadal among those to get in touch.

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“Of course, Marquez will never be as popular as Rossi, who was bigger than motorcycle racing, just like Muhammad Ali was bigger than boxing,” Oxley wrote. “But popularity isn’t a metric for judging sporting ability. Stoner wasn’t popular with the masses, so does that make him a worse rider? Of course not.

“I’ve spent the last year speaking to people who’ve raced against and worked with Marquez over the past two decades, for my biography of the 32-year-old Spaniard. Like I said, I form my opinions from the only people who really know what goes on.

“When I started the book Marc was on my GOAT podium, with Rossi and ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, in no particular order. After learning so much from so many people – both allies and enemies – I’m pretty sure he deserves to be on the top step. That’s my opinion.”

Davide Tardozzi tells Valentino Rossi fans what they’d ‘realise’ if they got to know Marc Marquez

The echoes of the 2015 season, specifically its bitter conclusion, still reverberate through the MotoGP paddock.

Marquez and Rossi didn’t acknowledge one another in the Austrian GP pit lane back in August, though the Spaniard maintains that he didn’t see his former competitor.

Some fans at Misano cheered when Marquez crashed out of the Sprint race last month. He was also booed after winning the Italian GP.

But Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi says those fans have got Marquez completely wrong. Far from being ‘dishonest’, he’s a ‘wonderful lad’.

“[I don’t understand] how there are still people, perhaps thinking about the 2015 incident with Valentino, who believe Marc is dishonest,” he said, via El Periodico. “I can say it: Marc is a sensational, wonderful lad, with a big heart.”

“If people could see, experience, the day-to-day life of our team as we do, they would realise that, before the champion, there is the ‘ragazzo’ [young man], and in that sense, Marc is also invincible.”