Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is one of the greatest and most successful riders in the history of the premier class, yet Marco Melandri feels MotoGP itself made him “really unlikeable”.
Only fellow icons Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi have to date ever won more premier class titles than Marquez has lifted. Agostini won a record eight 500cc titles, while Rossi won seven championships between 2001 and 2009 to set a tally that Marquez has now matched.
Rossi won the final 500cc era title in 2001 and the first MotoGP era championship in 2002 as the premier class entered its modern era. The Italian even sits at the top of the record books for all-time Grand Prix wins with 89, eclipsing Marquez on 73 so far and Agostini’s tally of 68.
Marquez holds the all-time record for premier class pole positions with 74, of which he took eight through the first 18 rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season. The Spaniard even took 15 of his 125 career podiums so far this season, to rank second only to Rossi’s record total of 199.
MotoGP made Marc Marquez ‘really unlikeable’ after his 2015 Malaysian GP spat with Valentino Rossi
Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title to move level with Rossi as a seven-time premier class champion, having dominated the field this year. Before Marquez sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in Indonesia, he lifted the title with five rounds spare with a 201-point lead.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Yet Melandri thinks MotoGP needs to do more to make Marquez “likeable” among fans. He is convinced that Marquez is still not widely popular due to how the series handled the fallout of the Cervera native’s controversial tangle with Rossi during the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Melandri told RSI, via quotes by Gazzetta dello Sport: “It’s a shame because in Malaysia they managed to make Valentino look like the victim, when, in my opinion, he was the culprit.
“Now, those who manage MotoGP need to make Marquez likeable, but they made him really unlikeable 10 years ago. Now, it’s not easy.
“Those who are Rossi fans will always side with Valentino, and those who are for Marquez will side with Marc. But no one wants to show the full truth.”
Valentino Rossi felt Marc Marquez wanted Jorge Lorenzo to win the 2015 MotoGP title
Rossi felt Marquez sought to make him “lose the championship” in 2015, as he felt the then-Honda rider went out of his way to prevent the then-Yamaha racer from winning in Australia to help title-rival Jorge Lorenzo. The tensions from Phillip Island then boiled over at Sepang.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth
After repeatedly looking over his shoulder, Rossi appeared to kick Marquez off his bike in the 2015 Malaysian GP. The pair tangled at Turn 13 after a fierce back-and-forth throughout the opening seven laps, with Marquez retiring on the spot as Rossi went on to finish the race P3.
Rossi merited a back-of-the-grid penalty for the 2015 finale in Valencia as his punishment for the collision with Marquez in Malaysia. While the Italian managed to recover and still finish the race P4, Lorenzo’s victory was enough for the Spaniard to lift the title by just five points.
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