“Valentino Rossi is still angry with Marc Marquez…”
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Rossi lost out on the 2015 MotoGP championship after an extraordinary series of incidents with Marquez that will live long in the sport’s history.Their toxic feud was reopened at the start of this year by Marquez’s Amazon Prime documentary, where he shed new light on their rivalry.“I was at home and I didn’t experience that up close, because there was also a time difference,” Rossi’s brother Marini, who was 18 at the time, remembered to AS about the infamous Sepang race.Rossi knocked Marquez off his bike and was hit a penalty to start from the back of the grid at the season-finale, which ultimately hampered his chance at winning the title.“There has been talk about it, but not too much,” Marini said about Rossi’s lingering frustration.“He hasn’t talked about it much with me, but I’m sure he’s still angry.”It was put to Marini that the events of 2015 changed MotoGP forever, turning it into a sport closer to football where fans pick a side.Marini was told that fans shouldn’t be so partisan against a fallen rider, and he said: “We agree.”Related Valentino Rossi back-story shows genius: “I realised he was light-years ahead” Valentino Rossi to test an LMP2 car, inching closer to 24 Hours of Le MansMarquez will swap Honda for Ducati next season, meaning he will ride the same year-old Desmosedici than the VR46 duo will have.“It’s fantastic,” Marini insisted about Marquez’s arrival.“He is an incredible rider, very strong, but like all the others, the most he can do is win races and we already have Jorge and Pecco who do it.“That he can also win the title? Pecco has already won it. Nothing is going to change, nothing.”Marini as MotoGP champion? “It can be done”
Rossi’s legacy continues through his VR46 team (who are challenging for this year’s title via Marco Bezzecchi) and his VR46 Academy who crowned its first champion last year in Pecco Bagnaia.But also through Marini, his brother, who has been forced to endure criticism that he is only in the premier class due to Rossi’s influence.Doesn’t he wish to silence those critics?“No. I have a good heart.”He’s less belligerent than Rossi, it is suggested.“Yes, I am more peaceful, too,” he replied.Is Marini a future champion?“I think that depends on me, just like that. It can be done.”Can a satellite Ducati rider win the MotoGP title?“Jorge Martin has shown that it can be done,” Marini said. “I didn’t think I could win the World Championship, but the Pramac team has a very official status, more so than us, with a very good bike and Ducati engineers with a lot of experience. “We started the season with very little technical difference, but with each test that difference increases.”
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