Since the Sepang race, race fans around the world have been divided. Did Rossi kick Marquez? Even if he did, did Marquez deserve it? Over questions like these, fans have spent hours hammering away at keyboards, leaving comments on magazines, blogs, Facebook pages, etc.
Yesterday, Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing Corporation Vice President, did a Q&A with MotoGP and stood by behind his man, Marc Marquez. According to Nakamoto, Marquez always races at 100 per cent capacity, all the time. As he put it:
“The lap times they were doing were quite fast, clearly showing that there was no intention from Marc to slow down Valentino. In addition, after Marc crashed and Valentino had an open track in front of him, his lap times were no faster then during the battle with Marc. We believe, they were both pushing to the maximum. Both wanted third place and to try and catch up with Dani and Jorge, but of course this battle opened up a gap to the front two.”
Nakamoto then said Rossi kicked Marquez’s brake lever, and that on-board data proved it, and that Race Direction should have punished Rossi during the race, as they had enough information on-hand.
Movistar Yamaha has just issued their reply. Here’s the important part:
“Yamaha would like to express its disagreement with the words that have been used to report on the incident between riders Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.
Both press releases included words that accuse Valentino Rossi of kicking Marc Marquez‘s bike that is something not proven by the investigation of the Race Direction.
We therefore reject the wording used in the said published statements that do not correspond with the findings of the Race Direction.
Yamaha has no wish to enter into further discussion regarding this unfortunate affair and our desire is to conclude the 2015 MotoGP season in the best possible way.
We go to Valencia with the clear intention of trying our best to win what we hope will be a memorable final race with all riders and teams competing in an exemplary sportsmanlike manner befitting the top category of motorcycle racing.”
And there you have it. MotoGP has canceled the usual pre-race press conference, probably because the press themselves have been just as guilty in whipping this issue into a frenzy as the riders have been. Instead, all MotoGP riders are going to meet with MotoGP’s Permanent Bureau (Vito Ippolito, FIM President, and Carmelo Ezpeleta, Chief Executive Officer of Dorna Sports) on Thursday, no doubt to sit through a speech on just how they ought to behave as professional racers.
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Ya, he just slide his foot in between the guard and the brake lever!
I cannot recall a bigger buildup to a race. I also can’t recall when a pre-race press conference was cancelled. I’m not surprised though.
Pistols at dawn.