Yamaha factory rider and current MotoGP points leader has accused Honda’s Marc Marquez of trying to sabotage his chances of winning the championship.
As of right now, Rossi leads the MotoGP world standings, with 296 points to teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s 285. Marquez is in third with 222 points; with only two races left, he can’t win the championship. But Rossi says that hasn’t stopped Marquez from trying to influence who wins the title, instead of simply riding to win racers.
At a MotoGP press conference intended to build hype for the Malaysian GP, Rossi surprised everyone by saying Marquez was riding to put Lorenzo atop the standings, at Rossi’s expense. According to The Doctor, it’s been going on a while, but became very obvious at the Australian GP.
“In the race I noticed it, but I did not understand; Marquez was a step above everyone, but instead of trying to try to battle Lorenzo, he stayed with me to fight with Iannone and others. He knew that I was losing out to the Ducati on the straight. And so every time I tried to pass him, he re-overtook me (super-aggressive, but thats the way it is). But then he slowed to create a gap to Jorge,” Rossi said.
Rossi said similar hijinks have occurred at other races this season, particularly at Laguna Seca. Rossi thinks it’s because Marquez has a few reasons to want Lorenzo to win.
“He would prefer Lorenzo to win,” Rossi said. “He is angry at me for a personal matter. Although he never said it, he thinks that in Argentina I made him crash; and then at Assen he is still thinking about the last chicane, in his head he feels he should have won that race. Since then he has been angry and thinking like a child: I do not win, but you do not win either. At this point, the lesser evil is for him is for Lorenzo to win.”
It isn’t just about revenge, Rossi said. He also believes Marquez wants to sabotage Rossi’s season to further his own future legacy.
“I want to win as many World Championships as I can,” Rossi said. “If I win another title, then he knows that he will have to win one more to overtake me. If instead Jorge wins, then they have more or less the same.”
Marquez has denied Rossi’s accusations, saying he’s racing to win, as always, and mid-race strategy simply comes down to tire wear control and other factors.
[…] for third. It was thrilling, edge-of-your-seat stuff, particularly in light of the disparaging comments Rossi made to the press this week concerning his allegations that Marquez was deliberating sandbagging to allow Lorenzo, a fellow […]
[…] start behind factory Honda men Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, which after the accusations made by Rossi this week, could make things […]
if true it doesn’t help either Rossi or Lorenzo. Lorenzo would take the title knowing that Marquez deliberately slowed down Rossi, and Rossi would be bitter about not getting a fair shot. Either way, everybody is going to be looking for it now, and as far as I can remember, I’ve never heard Rossi complain like this.
Grow up. It is a race the object is to win