SAFETY FEARS RAISED BY ROSSI MARQUEZ FEUD
Tempers boiled over in Argentina, but with Spanish and Italian rounds to come, it’s only going to get worse
Two wrongs don’t make a right. And if you need proof, look no further than last week’s Argentine MotoGP as first Marc Marquez blundered his way through the field, knocking off Valentino Rossi in the process, only for Rossi to respond with a personal attack that’s fanned the flames between both the riders and their devotees.
There’s no doubt that Marquez was out of control. The red mist descended the minute he was handed a ride-through penalty for ignoring race control and refusing to pull off the start line despite stalling his Repsol Honda.
Running at two seconds a lap faster than anyone else on the grid, he didn’t need to attack the way he did. But while Marquez was absolutely in the wrong, Rossi’s post-race comments have fuelled the fire and race organisers are now fearing fan trouble at future races.
Rossi has been at the centre of many aggressive-move controversies himself and many feel that his comments are the pot calling the kettle black. Marquez’s attempt at a post-race apology was blocked by Rossi’s entourage and derided afterwards by the Italian as nothing but a PR stunt. But it’s not that long ago that Rossi himself went into the Repsol garage looking for forgiveness from Casey Stoner. On that occasion Rossi didn’t even remove his helmet, but instead of any physical threat he was met with the now famous ‘your ambition outweighed your talent’ line from the Australian. And with Marquez still insisting he did nothing particularly wrong and Rossi continuing to complain on social media, this is a row that’s going to keep on giving. The last time that tensions were this high was after their Sepang 2015 clash, but it came at the end of the season which allowed cooler heads to prevail. This time the season has only just started and there’s Spanish and Italian races on the calendar soon so it looks like we’re set for a return to riders needing personal security. MotoGP bosses are trying to cool tempers, with Carmelo Ezpeleta set to sit down with both Rossi and Marquez this weekend in Texas, admitting that they need to ‘learn from the experience’ last time out. FIM president Vito Ippolito has also said he will try to calm the rivalry.
Q See Michael Scott column, page 83.