- Valentino Rossi joked in a Radio Deejay interview that his daughter Giulietta nearly arrived on Marc Marquez’s birthday, 17 February.
- The nine-time world champion told RAI that the 2015 title loss still hurts more than 10 years on.
- Marquez leads the championship by 60 points and could clinch an eighth premier class title at the next round.
The Rider Who Cannot Leave One Night in Valencia Behind
“At one point, there was a risk that Giulietta would be born on Marquez’s birthday,” Rossi said.
Then he told the story of what he said to his partner. “I told her, ‘Don’t play any tricks; stay still, don’t move, keep your legs together. We have to hold out for 24 hours’.”
The joke arrived as Rossi promotes his new autobiography, La Mia Storia, which went on sale in Italy on 10 November. Marquez’s birthday falls on 17 February. Giulietta was born on 4 March, 15 days later.
It is a funny line with an edge. Of every date on the calendar, the one he joked about avoiding for his daughter was the birthday of the rider he has argued with for more than a decade. The pair fell out after a controversial end to the 2015 season, when Rossi accused the then Honda rider of trying to sabotage his title hopes. They have never reconciled, and Rossi has only doubled down on his view of the 2015 season in the decade after.
What Rossi Told RAI About 2015
The harder words came a few days earlier. Rossi appeared on RAI’s Che tempo che fa on Sunday, 8 November, to promote the book, and the interviewer asked about 2015. Rossi said his version of events had not changed. He also admitted that the memory still hurts and that he regrets how much attention goes to the title he lost rather than the championships he won.
“We all have our limits. Some are lower, some are higher. But the 2015 story makes me even angrier because Marquez wasn’t actually fighting for the championship. Lorenzo and I were fighting for it; he was only fighting to make me lose. And in the end, he succeeded,” Rossi said.
“That is something that never goes away; it still hurts. More than 10 years have passed, but my feelings, my state of mind when I think about it, are still the same as they were on that night in Valencia. And that worries me a little,” he chuckled.
“I often look at myself in the mirror and tell myself: let’s not focus on the title we lost, let’s think about the ones we won. But that’s sport; losing hurts more.”
The sequence Rossi keeps returning to began at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix. He was fighting Jorge Lorenzo for what would have been his 10th world title, and he arrived at Sepang accusing Marquez of conspiring to make sure a Spanish rider won the championship. The two had already been involved in several contentious incidents that year, in Argentina and at Assen. At Sepang, Marquez answered with a hard fight in Sunday’s race, which ended in the clash where Rossi appeared to kick the Honda rider off his bike. Rossi believed that Marquez, already out of title contention, was set only on costing him the championship.
Rossi was then penalized with a start at the back of the grid in the Valencia finale. Tension between the three riders, and among the fans who traveled to the circuit, ran higher than ever before, and the race drew record television audiences worldwide. It ended with Lorenzo crowned champion. Rossi accused Marquez of a “biscotto”, an alleged agreement to avoid attacking Lorenzo and keep the title away from the Italian.
Those are Rossi’s claims, and he made them again this week in his own words. His comments in recent days have drawn plenty of criticism on social media.
Why the Timing Stings
The timing is pointed. Marquez holds a 60-point lead in the standings after a win and a second place at the Qatar Grand Prix. He goes to the Portuguese Grand Prix needing only to win the sprint to secure this year’s world title.
An eighth premier class title would move Marquez level with Giacomo Agostini on eight and ahead of Rossi, a seven-time MotoGP champion and a nine-time world champion across all classes. It would also be Marquez’s tenth world title counting his 125cc crown in 2010 and Moto2 crown in 2012, one more than Rossi’s nine. It would also cap a comeback. Marquez has closed a 102-point deficit this season, the gap that Marco Bezzecchi once held over him before a run of mistakes.
Rossi, meanwhile, retired from MotoGP five years ago to race cars full time. His last race win in MotoGP came in 2017 and his most recent world title in 2009. Another rider is closing in on his place on the all-time list, and the night in 2015 is the one Rossi keeps discussing.
Jorge Lorenzo Offers a Verdict
The rider who won that 2015 title has weighed in on the same subject. Lorenzo, a three-time MotoGP champion and a former Yamaha, Ducati and Honda rider, spoke to TNT Sports in Qatar last weekend and argued that the debate over the greatest rider of all time will come down to Marquez and Agostini, with Rossi not a factor if Marquez wins this year.
“I think a real debate will arise about whether Marquez or Agostini are the greatest of all time,” Lorenzo said.
“For me, if he wins this tenth world title, he will undoubtedly be the greatest of the modern era.”
He added: “I think Marc was stronger last year, before Mandalika’s injury.”
“That crash weakened him physically, and this year he’s struggled to maintain his form, but he’s made up for it with pure technique.”
“For me, in terms of technique and riding, he’s the best ever.”
Lorenzo has his own history with Rossi. The two shared a Yamaha garage and built an intense rivalry there. In the early days, Rossi had a wall erected in the Yamaha garage to stop secrets from spilling out between both sides. Lorenzo’s last world title came in 2015, at the end of the controversial campaign in which Rossi claimed that Marquez was trying to sabotage his championship challenge.
A Season Seen From the VR46 Academy
Rossi did not spend the whole interview on Marquez. He also assessed the riders from his VR46 Riders Academy, several of whom have had a hard year.
Bezzecchi, whose speed Marquez has already assessed, looked like a strong contender early in the season, with that 102-point advantage over Marquez at one stage. After a series of mistakes on a competitive Aprilia, he is third in the standings behind Jorge Martin with two rounds remaining.
“Bezzecchi is doing well because he won [Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix], but he is a little disappointed because he had the opportunity to win the world championship this year. He had the speed, but he made too many mistakes. Most likely, he won’t win it,” Rossi said.
Francesco Bagnaia is counting down the days to his departure from Ducati after two difficult seasons. His hopes of a strong result in Qatar ended when he suffered a foot injury in a crash in Saturday’s sprint.
“When you break a foot and have two fractures, as is the case with him, you’re obviously not in a good way. But considering how the crash happened [a heavy fall following contact with Fermin Aldeguer], it could have been much worse,” Rossi said.
Then came the lighter moment of the interview, when he talked about Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a friend of the academy who has recently been crowned Formula 1 world champion.
“Kimi? Spectacular. Having an Italian driver who, after 70 years, makes us so fortunate with a world title is exciting,” Rossi said.
“There are many Italian riders in the Motorcycle world championship, but not in F1. I’ve always tried to understand why. Kimi came here because of us, the fans. I’ve known him for a few years; he’s a fantastic person, very funny. He’s a champion.”
What Comes Next
The English edition of the book is expected in February, the same month Marquez celebrates his birthday on the 17th. By then the 2026 championship will be settled, with only two rounds left after Qatar.
For Rossi, the mirror is the interesting part of the story. He told RAI that he tells himself to focus on the titles he won, and he has nine of them. He also said that losing hurts more. The birthday joke shows how much of that hurt he can turn into humor, and the RAI interview shows how much of it remains while Marquez stands one sprint win from a title.
