I am not the biggest Marc Marquez fan. I won't deny that the MotoGP champion is one of the greatest of all times, having just secured his 9th world championship—7 if you're just counting in the premier class—but he was never my guy. Sorry, Marquez fans.
I'm getting to the age where I look more fondly at those I grew up watching, i.e. the Stoners, the Pedrosas, and the Haydens, the dudes that just went out there without aero, without traction control, without ride height devices and left it all out on the line. It's the same way that I now look back at the V8-era of Formula 1 and how I could hear those cars from two miles away reverberating in my chest as they flew through the back straight at Circuit of the Americas.
But there was one great who took a place above everyone, and that was Valentino Rossi who is, arguably, one of the greatest, too. In fact, there are those who'd argue that he was above Marquez. I know, I was one of them. The key phrase, however, is was, because at present, Rossi is acting like a petty asshole because, apparently, he doesn't like that Marquez has tied his 9-time championship record.
I don't suffer egotistical anyone, least of all folks who should know better, and Rossi should. So he needs to sack up, give Marquez his props, and be a good ambassador for the sport. Especially at a time when there are more eyes on it than ever before.
My consternation with the 9-time champion comes after the whole fiasco that was Marquez's 2025 title win. After a ridiculous spat between the governing body of MotoGP and the Marquez camp about how many title wins he could celebrate, and then securing that bag and trophy with a truly impressive display of two-wheeled prowess, folks have, obviously, asked Rossi about his thoughts on the greatest of all time, and Marquez's win.
Rossi took the time to answer the question, but conveniently left Marquez out, as well as hasn't said a single word on Marc's championship title. Basically, he's acting like a child who didn't get the "right" Christmas present from his parents. The soundbite came when reporters asked the now team-owning Rossi who his greatest rivals were, telling our siblings at Motorsport, "I had a lot of great rivals in my career and I think it’s between [Casey] Stoner and [Jorge] Lorenzo and [Max] Biaggi and [Dani] Pedrosa. It’s difficult to say the bigger one. Maybe Lorenzo because we were in the same team and we were team-mates for a long time. So, it was not just a rivalry - it was like a love story."
Marquez and Rossi, however, had numerous spats over the years when the two were racing head-to-head, including some blowout allegations that apparently left bad blood that continues to this day. Well, at least on one side of the drama, as Marquez, showing more humility and nuance than I've ever seen from the MotoGP racer, took Rossi's leaving him out in stride.
When asked for comment about Rossi not considering him a rival, Marquez stated that that was probably true, "Because we never fight for a championship. It's just when I arrived there, my biggest opponent, for example, one year was Lorenzo. And then I jumped to [Andrea] Dovizioso." Whether or not Marquez believes that, and I'm not sure he does, it's interesting to see the Ducati rider seemingly grow over the years I've watched him race, while Rossi, whom I considered Marc's better, is now acting like a child.
I wish that weren't the case. I wish that Rossi would just act like the elder statesman that he is. I wish he'd act like a better ambassador for a sport that's likely about to grow in size, the likes of which we haven't yet seen. Maybe he still will? Maybe they'll mend some fences. Or maybe the 46-year-old will continue to pretend he's a kindergartener? Only time will tell.
