P138
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
M
aybe the most penetrat-
ing comment in the con-
tinuing fall-out surround-
ing Argentina's Marquez-Rossi
clash was one of the simplest,
from an American reader. That
if Marquez hadn't have done
that (knocked Rossi down with
a botched overtake), then he
wouldn't be Marquez.
There is a corollary.
That if Rossi hadn't played
his "aggrieved innocent" game
afterwards—all laughing charm
and injured propriety—then he
wouldn't be Rossi.
In the same way, if Valentino
hadn't done something achingly
similar to Sete Gibernau at Jerez
(although by good fortune Sete
didn't crash), he wouldn't be
Rossi, either.
To say nothing about the more
recent time that he did push
Marquez off and into a crash at
Sepang in 2015. I note that back
then he didn't accuse himself of
"destroying our sport"—the im-
precation he hurled at Marquez
directly after the race at Termas
DESTROYING THE SPORT – AND
HOW NOT TO DO IT
