Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/599046
IN THE WIND P34 ROSSI BLASTS MARQUEZ AND LORENZO, AGAIN. V alentino Rossi heaped more coals on the fire after the Valencia Mo- toGP, November 8, at a packed post- race briefing to a seemingly partisan crowd, swayed by his outward good humor and ever-active charm as he con- tinued to accuse Marc Marquez of being "Lorenzo's bodyguard." "It was a great season," he said. "The championship had the potential to be one of the best. But in the last three races something happened that nobody expected. Marquez decided to protect Lorenzo. The problems started at Phillip Island." This was Rossi's original and still highly dubious accusation that started the trouble, pre-race at Sepang. The situation had become worse and worse. "I knew already my championship was finished before this race, because Marquez would finish his work," Rossi continued. "I think this race was quite embarrassing. I was ready to lose the cham- pionship to Jorge, but this way is not fair." HRC executive vice-president Shuhei Nakamo- to sprang to Marquez's defense, doubtless further enraging the millions of Rossi fans who hang on his every word. "This is not the atmosphere we wanted to experience at the end of an unforgettable cham- pionship," he said. "We understand that it's been a very difficult day for Valentino, after leading the championship for 17 races and losing by just five points in the final race must be very disappointing. However, on the other side, we cannot accept the strong accusations he has directed against our rider and Honda in the past weeks and today. "Together with the allegation he made after Phillip Island, there is no evidence to support these accu- sations, only the fact that Marc took five points away from Valentino's competitor in the championship. "Today Valentino has alleged that Marc never attempted to pass Jorge, who has clearly had a very good pace all weekend, which he demon- strated by taking a strong pole position in qualify- ing. Marc was struggling to stay behind him dur- ing the race and both him and Dani have done a great job to not lose too much distance to Jorge. "Marc's plan was to attack in the last lap, as we have seen many times in the past: if the op- portunity presents itself, he will try. Dani's pace increased at the end of the race and he overtook Marc but ran wide and Marc was able to immedi- ately pass him back, but this is racing. "We are sorry that Valentino doesn't believe this is the case, but we are certain both Marc and Dani were pushing 100 percent to achieve the best result for the Repsol Honda Team and all our partners as always. We cannot accept that these accusations continue to surface time after time, as this is the perception of one person—which we respect—but it is not the reality." Michael Scott Valentino Rossi made his true feelings known after the Valencia race.