Rossi/Marquez Malaysia Clash is Trending
Talk about trending – the clash Sunday between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez at Sepang International Circuit is garnering some serious attention.
Commentary on the situation is surfacing from both the paddocks and social media feeds across the world, and it appears to be a 50/50 mix of support – either Valentino Rossi was wrong for running his line wide before Marquez crashed, or the crash was justified.
Some of the most direct commentary surfaces from Marquez’s team, which says the nine-time World Champion Rossi endangered “the safety of the Repsol Honda Team rider (Marc Marquez) in an absolutely deliberate and reprehensible move.”
Repsol Honda then begins a diatribe on Valentino Rossi, with an emphasis on values in MotoGP, saying: “Although Marquez was fortunately able to escape unharmed from the attack, for Repsol the conduct of Rossi is absolutely unacceptable because it endangered –in a premeditated and unsportsmanlike manner– the safety of the Repsol Honda team rider. Repsol consider this an unsportsmanlike act incompatible with the values of sport and competition.
“Repsol are deeply saddened that situations like that which occurred today in Sepang exist, especially as the company feel proud of sporting values: Companionship, competitive spirit and commitment from riders. Without these values, it would not make sense for Repsol to participate in the sport as a sponsor. Repsol also call for a clear and strong regulation in the interest of the safety and physical integrity of the riders, which punishes behavior like that seen today clearly and decisively.”
The Rossi/Marquez Sepang Clash Story
Ahead of Sepang, the 36-year-old Italian Rossi was on edge about Marquez, saying the two-time Spaniard was intentionally slowing down and battling with Rossi, the current MotoGP Points leader. Rossi alludes that Marquez is trying to help out the only other rider capable of a shot at the 2015 MotoGP title, the other factory Yamaha YZR-M1 pilot Jorge Lorenzo.
This situation escalated during the third free practice at Sepang, when Rossi accused Marquez of shadowing him. This led to the conclusion of the clash when Rossi ran wide at turn 14 at Sepang, which forced Marquez off line. The 22-year-old Marquez bumped Rossi and crashed. Rossi would later be penalized three points, which may have the biggest outcome on the 2015 MotoGP title. Yamaha had appealed the penalty, but it was denied by MotoGP Race Direction.
As Marquez suffered his sixth DNF of the season, Rossi went on to finish third. Lorenzo finished second behind winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda). Rossi currently has 312 points to Lorenzo’s 305 heading into the season finale in two weeks time at Valencia in Spain.
This seven-point difference between Rossi and Lorenzo can make all the difference, especially if the riders keep up their podium finishes. The podium point system awards 25 points to first, 20 to second, and 16 to third. Basically, to earn a 10th title, Rossi needs the following: If Lorenzo wins, Rossi must finish second to win the Championship; if Lorenzo finishes second, Rossi must finish third or better; if Lorenzo finishes third, Rossi must finish sixth or better.
But the point situation is only the surface – because Rossi will have accumulated four penalty points (three at Sepang, one at Misano for slowing Lorenzo during qualifying; not to be confused with Championship points), the YZR-M1 pilot will have to start from dead last.
Obviously, the Rossi/Marquez Sepang Clash will have a huge impact on the outcome of 2015 MotoGP. And the commentary is far from over.
Following the incident, both riders and some team members had much to say. Here are some quotes from the Rossi/Marquez clash at Sepang MotoGP. Who is correct comes down to personal opinion, though I think Rossi was in the wrong. But there’s only so much taunting one can take.
Rossi/Marquez Sepang Clash Quotes
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) says: “Marquez knows it wasn’t red mist that caused the incident. It’s very clear from the helicopter footage that I didn’t want to make him crash, I just wanted to make him lose time, go outside of the line and slow down, because he was playing his dirty game, even worse than in Australia. When I went wide and slowed down to nearly a stop, I looked at him as if to say ‘what are you doing?’.
“After that we touched. He touched with his right underarm on my leg and my foot slipped off the foot peg. If you look at the image from the helicopter it’s clear that when my foot slipped of the foot peg, Marquez had already crashed. I didn’t want to kick him, especially because, if you give a kick to a MotoGP bike, it won’t crash, it’s very heavy. For me the sanction is not fair, because Marquez won his fight. His program is OK because he is making me lose the championship.
“The sanction is not good, especially for me, because I didn‘t purposefully want to make him crash, I just reacted to his behavior, but I didn‘t kick him. You can‘t say anything in the press conference, maybe it changes something, but to me this was not fair, because I just want to fight for the championship with Jorge and let the better man win, but like this that‘s not happening. Like I said, I didn‘t want to make Marquez crash, but I had to do something because at that moment Jorge was already gone. The championship is not over yet, but this sanction cut me off by the legs and made Marquez win.”
Massimo Meregalli (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director) says: “It’s a shame to see such a beautiful championship, that was supposed to result in one of the most exciting battles between the two Yamaha riders, be affected and almost compromised by another rider. We should be here today dealing with Jorge’s amazing performance on track and his second place, as well as another thrilling battle among top riders but unfortunately this is not the case.
“We made an appeal to the FIM stewards against the penalty issued by the Race Direction because while we respect the infringement, we felt 3 penalty points were too harsh. We have since heard that the appeal has been rejected. We respect this final decision.”
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) says: ”We were having a good race up until the incident. At the beginning I made a mistake, but then I regained confidence. Valentino overtook me, I followed him for half a lap, and I saw that I could go faster than him, so I tried overtake him back. We started a fight between us and I always passed without making any contact with him.
“At Turn 14 he passed me on the inside, I sat the bike up, he kept going straight ahead and I saw him looking at me. I didn’t know what to do. Then he kicked out at me, knocking my brake lever, and I crashed. I will leave the sanction in the hands of Race Direction. All I know is that I scored zero points and ended up in the gravel, but thankfully I’m fine. Both what Valentino said to Race Direction and what he did on the track has made me disappointed. I’ve never seen anything like it: a rider kicking another rider. It might be down to nerves, but I want to try to forget about all this and the important thing is that I’m fine physically. I hope, for the sake of the sport that this ends here.”
Marquez explains more when asked during the post-race interview “can you explain what happened with Valentino Rossi?”: “Yeah of course you know for me it is easy to explain what happened because on the TV you can see clear. You can see in the video from many points, the helicopter, from in front. I was inside and of course we were overtaking for some laps but I felt I was able to be faster and to catch the front guys. But yeah, on that corner, corner 14, Valentino passed me. I heard the bike then I pick it up, but then I saw that he was completely straight and looking at me and stopping a lot. I was just waiting because there was nothing to do in that point and then I saw that with his leg he pushed my arm and my front brake and then I lock the front wheel and I crash.
“Luckily I am good, in good physical condition, this is the most important but you know during my career I have many moments you know, I mean many battles and everything, but never have I felt this. That another rider give me a big push and push me out with the leg. But in the end, my result in the race was zero points. This was of course not my target, my target was to finish these two races on the podium, but it is like this.”
Livio Suppo (Repsol Honda Team Principal): For the Repsol Honda Team what happened today is something we never want to see in racing, as it is unacceptable that a rider would intentionally create a dangerous situation causing the crash of another rider. We love motorsport and we like to see riders competing for victory, but there must be a limit and mutual respect of each other.”
The points are wrong. Rossi has a 7 point lead.
marquez is lying. rossi did not kick him. his foot slipped off the peg AFTER being contacted from behind by marquez. rossi did not make marquez crash, marc could have gone by rossi and disappeared into the distance. instead he chose to engage in a back and forth pissing contest so lorenzo could open a gap. marquez had already let lorenzo go through as a matador but then engaged rossi in a passing contest. i am completely disappointed in marquez because he’ s a liar and acted the past two races in a completely unsportsmanlike manner. rossi is not lily white but i can’t blame him one bit for being fed up with the childish antics of marc mayhem. may marquez never win another race.
This would be the points with the three-point penalty incurred…
I heard very similar sentiments!
good article! thanks. repsol/honda have to defend their boy, i guess, but they are being completely disingenuous with these comments of theirs. dorna needs to address the issue of marquez, possibly with repsol/honda’s approval, aiding a rider from another team and inappropriately inserting himself into the championship fight. clean it up, dorna, this is a shameful spectacle for the greatest racing on the planet.
Well said. I think it comes down to whether you’re a fan of the Championship as a whole, or simply race-by-race. If you consider the former to be of greater value than a race win, then you’ll understand what Rossi did and side with him. If you simply want to watch close racing and have no interest in a bigger picture, then Marquez’ behavior was not just acceptable it was laudable, and you simply won’t understand why Rossi did what he did.
Honda have no more interest in this Championship. So their focus is on race-by-race and their reaction is fully understandable. But I’d be very interested in their reaction next year if the Marquez/Rossi Championship positions are reversed and Rossi chooses to engage Marquez in a titanic battle for a distant third place in a race that could cost him (and Honda) the Championship.
Here’s a reminder: After MM almost took out Lorenzo at Catalunya earlier this year (before crashing) Lorenzo in the conference had some pretty harsh words about Marquez’ banzai riding, and branded it completely unacceptable. And that was well before there was any real Championship battle going on. Perhaps he secretly understands Rossi’s behavior this weekend.
It doesn’t work that way. Penalty points are not championship points.
Exactly. Mr. Coldwells’ comments are from someone who actually understands racing, and what a World Championship means. Few do. Marquez behaviour here makes for great copy, plenty of controversy, but is pointless (no pun intended) in the scheme of winning a championship.
It is also dangerous and counterproductive to good sportsmanship.
Marquez has had a terrible season; he has now had 6 DNF’s, two of those crashes whilst tangling with Rossi. Several were a result of just out-of-control riding, sloppy technique and hot-headedness. Honda have not got their money’s worth out of him this season. I imagine that, in the back rooms over warm sake, some of the more sage managers are considering cutting Marquez loose. They will of course defend him now, but he has not proven himself capable of concentrating enough to win a championship in the face of real competition.
Analysing Marquez’ behaviour, I think we are seeing the actions of an immature youth who (as Wayne Rainey rightly stated in a video interview on MotoGP some time ago) began to believe the social media hype about his so-called amazing skills as if it were the incontrovertible, self-evident truth.
I begged to differ about Marquez’ riding at the end of the 2013 season; I just did not see anything new or extraordinary about him. Kenny Roberts noted that Marc was steering with the rear wheel, backing it into turns on occasion and squaring off, but Roberts and Spencer were doing this over 30 years ago. Kevin Schwantz commented that he couldn’t really see that Marquez was doing anything different than anyone else, other than being “out of shape” more often, a technique carried over from Moto 2.
I was pretty much alone in my thinking, but I did voice to a few colleagues that I felt Marquez was not going to be the wonder boy everyone thought he was, once he had a serious challenger. Lorenzo’s bike did not have the power to catch Marc often enough, and as Rainey has stated, Pedrosa simply cannot muscle the MotoGP-class bike hard enough to consistently get on the podium. So Marquez really had no serious competition for his first two championships, and he was also very lucky.
What changed in 2015 was the return of Valentino Rossi to the fray. Marc Marquez is a callow youth, blessed with disarming, boyish good looks and a sudden burst of talent and luck that pushed him into the limelight.
Rossi is a extraordinary athlete with a proven track record; he has adapted, changed, honed his skills and abilities to the sharpest edge ever seen in the modern era of motorcycle road racing. His 2015 season has been incredible. For a man of his age to be ahead in the points, on a motorcycle that is noticeably slower than the Hondas, is a result of superb racecraft, cunning instincts, and extremely good judgment. Rossi knows when to sit tight and take the points, and when to attack. He is a patient, but cagey competitor.
Marquez is nothing of the sort. When confronted with a serious threat, the boy caved in. He lost focus very early in the season, and deeply resented Rossi for emerging from what appeared to be retirement to come back and ruin his party. By mid-season, Marquez had come completely unglued. The incident at Sepang is the final proof of this.
I think too many comments are being made by folks who have not followed the entire season, and have not carefully analyzed the events leading up to the incident.
Rossi informed the press and the public as to exactly what Marquez was up to; he did this after carefully reviewing the lap times and video from Philip Island. It was clear to him that Marquez wanted to deny Rossi his 10th world title and would do just about anything to accomplish that end.
Rossi said Marquez was going to help Lorenzo win. His actions at Philip Island are perfectly consistent with Rossi’s assertions. Marquez has no dog in the hunt, yet he’s a noisome gadfly, charging in and out of the real race for the championship with the sole intent of hurting Rossi’s chances.
Sepang was irrefutable proof of this. The initial viewing of the race seems to show nothing more than some very spirited dicing between Rossi and Marquez, with very close passing and some breathtaking moments. That’s great, it’s why we love racing. But this lively joust quickly degenerates into something more sinister. One can see Rossi signal Marquez shortly before Marquez falls, as if to say, “Just pass me and get on with it, so we can catch up to the leaders.”
But that wasn’t Marquez’ intention. Watching the video several times, one can see that Marquez is interfering with Rossi. He is passing Rossi, and then slowing just enough to frustrate him, forcing Rossi to repass, often in a close and dangerous way. Many of Marquez’ overtakes are extremely close, requiring Rossi’s full attention to avoid contact and a possible fall. At one point, Rossi nearly loses the bike, and it is at this point where I think Rossi made the decision to defend himself.
If another rider on a fast weekend ride treated you, or a fellow rider, the way Marquez treated Rossi, it would without question be considered reckless driving and perhaps even assault with a deadly weapon under the law. A person can only take so much, and not only was Rossi’s life and health at stake, so was the championship. Rossi wanted nothing more than to clear off and take a clean third place, to finish on the podium.
Marquez’ actions had only one intent, and outside the raceway that intent would be construed as purely criminal; he wanted to either force Rossi into an error, or rattle him to the point where he would slow down enough to prevent him taking third place in the race.
Like any red-blooded human, Rossi finally decided to defend himself and his championship quest.
Yes, it would be helpful if the comments were better-informed.
This video clearly establishes beyond all doubt that Marquez committed a deliberate assault on Rossi.
One can obviously see that Marquez opens the throttle and accelerates into Rossi’s bike and Rossi’s leg. Marquez deliberately rams his helmet into Rossi’s kneepuck.
Rossi is already looking forward when Marquez rams him, and his push with the knee happens reflexively. There is no way Rossi could have known what part of Marquez’ was impacting him, he was doing what anyone would do, pushing it away with his knee, and accelerating away from the danger.
The front brake lever guard would have prevented any accidental closure of the brake lever; Marquez’ front wheel does not lock until after Rossi clears off, most likely due to Marquez’ own reaction to the impact.
Marquez attempted a very dirty move and did not get away with it. Rossi defended himself in a clean and legal way.
The three points are what is making him start at the back of the grid when added on to the one he already had. Penalty points are not taken off the rider’s championship points. He has a 7 point lead and if he finishes 2nd and Lorenzo 1st, he will be the champion.
Got it! All figured out now!
Simply clear and perfect! Thank you very much, Batard!
Maybe your post should be translated into Spanish and sent to the Spanish media… :)
hello! by chance do you have the link to the video of the interview to Rainey?
Um, more like 90/10 in favor of Rossi!
It’s available on the MotoGP website with a Videopass, that is, you’ll have to pay to view it. However, they have a ridiculously low price for just the last race, which will entitle you to watch every video in their library. You can just search for Wayne Rainey and you’ll find it.
No, I am not affiliated in any way with MotoGP. ;-)