Marc Marquez has now changed his mind about one MotoGP rival he once secretly ‘hated’

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Marc Marquez has made numerous enemies during his MotoGP career. The biggest, Valentino Rossi, is no longer on the grid.

But Rossi’s acolytes, through the VR46 academy, remain on the grid. The most notable is Marquez’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia, though relations between the two have been good.

By contrast, Franco Morbidelli is still critical of Marquez’s conduct at the end of the 2015 season (when his rivalry with Rossi exploded), suggesting it holds him back in the greatest of all time debate.

There was also a feeling that Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi held a bigger ‘grudge’ against Marquez than any other rider. On Sunday, they were involved in a serious accident at the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Marc Marquez used to ‘absolutely hate’ Marco Bezzecchi

Bezzecchi is expected to receive a penalty at the next race in Australia for his tangle with Marquez on the opening lap. His botched move at turn seven took both riders out of the race, and the world champion has subsequently been ruled out of the next two rounds through injury.

But on his Instagram page, Marquez tried to calm any anger towards Bezzecchi within his fan base, writing: “Please, no hard feelings towards @marcobez72, nobody does it on purpose.”

This is a marked change in their relationship considering that, after their collision at the 2023 Valencia Grand Prix, Marquez refused to call Bezzecchi ‘by name’. The Italian then told him face-to-face that he should be ‘kicked out of the championship’, as David Emmett recalled on a recent episode of the Paddock Pass podcast.

Marquez wasn’t penalised for the first-lap incident, which only enraged Bezzecchi further. Two years on, it’s clear there’s a newfound respect between the two, with the latter offering an apology on Sunday.

“These guys used to absolutely hate each other,” Neil Morrison said. “At the end of 2023, Marc took Bezzecchi out of the race in Valencia. Bezzecchi was furious, and Marc would only refer to him as that rider – he wouldn’t actually call him by name. You could sense there was serious hatred.

Emmett replied: “I think that was also the race where Marco Bezzecchi stormed into Marc’s office in his truck, and told him that he should be kicked out of the championship.”

What Marco Bezzecchi said after Marc Marquez crash at Indonesian Grand Prix

Bezzecchi missed his post-race media duties due to a medical centre visit, but he addressed his error via social media.

He wrote: “Today I made a mistake and unfortunately I also involved Marc. I am very sorry, my apologies to him and his staff.”

Marquez accepted Bezzecchi’s apology after the race, though one suspects his calm reaction was partly due to the fact that he’s already sealed the title. He could still return before the end of the year.

Neil Hodgson thought Bezzecchi’s move was ‘strange’ because he’d ‘never seen’ any rider successfully make an overtake at that corner. The Italian, who had won the Sprint race, was trying to regain ground after another poor start.