Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is still facing regular questions about his relationship with Valentino Rossi. Perhaps that’s not a surprise given that their rivalry was the most captivating of the modern era.
Rossi retired at the end of the 2021 season but Marquez has said that the pair still aren’t on speaking terms.
They haven’t recovered from the events of the 2015 Malaysian GP, where Rossi accused Marquez of deliberately helping his title rival, Jorge Lorenzo, before they collided during the race.
Will Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez ever speak to each other again?
Marquez and Rossi appeared to ignore one another when they crossed paths in the pit lane in Austria last year. The Ducati rider claimed afterwards that he didn’t see the VR46 boss.
Marc Marquez urges his fans not to ‘hold a grudge’ against Valentino Rossi
In an interview on Spanish TV programme ‘El Objetivo‘, Marquez was once again asked about Rossi. He insists that he doesn’t ‘live with resentment’.
Marquez equalled Rossi’s haul of seven premier-class titles last year and is the overwhelming favourite to make it eight this season. The Doctor’s last championship was in 2009, which partly explains his desperation in 2015.
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Marquez says his fans should focus on applauding him rather than attacking Rossi. Last October, he defended VR46 Academy graduate Marco Bezzecchi after their Indonesia tangle left him with a season-ending injury.
“They ask, but that’s normal,” said Marquez, who tried to silence the boos directed towards Rossi at last year’s Valencia prizegiving. “Living with resentment is very hard. I don’t want my fans to hold a grudge; I want them to save their energy to applaud me.
“When I was injured, it was another rider who got in my way. He made a mistake, but nobody does it intentionally, and people sometimes don’t understand that.”
Marc Marquez reveals the issue MotoGP riders ‘don’t want to talk about’
Marquez broke his collarbone and damaged shoulder ligaments in the Mandalika crash, which forced him to undergo surgery. He hadn’t missed a race since the 2023 season.
He explained to El Objetivo that accidents like this have ‘shaped’ his career. Marquez’s broken arm spoiled his final years at Honda as he went underwent four surgeries between 2020 and 2022.
While the riders ‘don’t want to talk about it’ publicly, they know that they are risking life and limb when they take to the track.
“Bad crashes are what really shape you,” he said. “Many riders arrive in MotoGP and crash once or twice, and it seems like they don’t know how to ride a motorcycle.
“You push the limits; otherwise, everyone would do it, but you get hurt, you risk your life, and we’re aware of that, even if we don’t want to talk about it. It’s a taboo subject, but when you’re at home, relaxed… You have respect for it. If you’ve been hurt, you feel it immediately.”
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