Misano Doesn’t Boo Him; Marc Marquez Reflects on Valentino Rossi
Marc Marquez scored a massive one-two finish at Misano, winning both Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix—enough to tie with Jorge Martin at the top of the MotoGP rider standings. Paradoxically, however, this is not the most historic aspect of his double victory in the Romagna region. In Valentino Rossi’s homeland, and just a few kilometers from Tavullia—the birthplace of “The Doctor”—the local crowd did not greet his podium finish with the traditional barrage of boos and protests. A “novelty” to which the Catalan—now the face of Ducati—offered his own explanation.
“It’s been ten years now,” Marquez commented, clearly referring to the on- and off-track skirmishes with Valentino Rossi, though he did not mention him by name. As a sportsman, fair play or the fans’ applause is always preferable; if that doesn’t happen, so be it. I’m used to it. It’s normal, though, that here in Misano, Bezzecchi’s name is cheered more than mine. We’re in Italy; at Aragon, it was the opposite. The important thing is that people have fun.”
In the race, Marquez benefited from a particularly unlucky Sunday for his direct rivals. Marco Bezzecchi, who started from pole position after setting a new “Marco Simoncelli” circuit record with an impressive 1:29.982, got off to a good start, keeping the Catalan and Jorge Martin behind him, but he got carried away: he tried to pull away at the end of the first lap and slid out, leaving the way clear for the two title contenders. For the rider from Rimini, this marks his fifth zero-point finish of the season, a result that significantly complicates his championship ambitions: Bezzecchi now finds himself 33 points behind the leader.
Rounding out the podium in Sunday’s race were Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta, while Fermin Aldeguer’s comeback came to a halt in fourth place. Jorge Martin, on the other hand, finished only fifth, allowing his rival to tie him in the overall standings: both are now at 270 points. At the Ducati pit wall, joy erupted uncontrollably, with team manager Davide Tardozzi unable to contain himself: first a few punches on the pit wall, then celebrating with the whole team as he crossed the finish line, and finally turning to the camera with a liberating “It’s red!”
Words of satisfaction also came from General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna: “What a victory for Marquez! He really raced like Marc. There’s not much else to add. He knew how to manage everything throughout the race—from start to finish. There’s still too much time and too many races left to start thinking about the title. Time is certainly on our side; after all, we’ve made a fantastic comeback so far. We’ll keep our feet firmly on the ground, though.”
