Valentino Rossi has accused Marc Marquez of deliberately protecting Jorge Lorenzo during Sunday’s MotoGP title decider in Valencia to try and help the Spaniard win the championship.
Yamaha rider Lorenzo claimed his third MotoGP title after beating Marquez and Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa to the race win, having spent the entirety of the race holding the pair back.
Rossi charged from last position on the grid to finish fourth, but it was not enough to give him a tenth world championship as he finished the season five points behind Lorenzo.
Speaking after the race, Rossi once again accused Marquez of deliberately trying to stop him from winning the championship, claiming that the Spaniard could have passed Lorenzo had he tried.
“I think that after Motegi I had the potential to win the championship, but unfortunately from the race in Phillip Island something changed, and in these last three races we saw something that we never saw before in our sport,” Rossi said.
“I think that the situation was already bad, but today was embarrassing for everybody because it was unbelievable, the behaviour of Marquez is something very bad for everything, especially for the sport.
“It is something that nobody expects, because a Honda rider that made a Yamaha rider win and give the maximum just to push out his teammate is something that nobody expect and I think it is very, very bad news. Anyway, it is like this, we have to accept.”
Despite his evident disappointment after missing out on the championship, Rossi was pleased that Marquez’s actions in Valencia proved the accusations about collusion he made in Australia.
“I am happy because now everybody see what I said in Australia and I don’t understand the behaviour of Marquez, but sincerely for me it is very difficult to say something to him because I hope that he will understand what he did in these last three races in the future of his career,” Rossi said.
“For sure the Hondas were faster. We know that in the second part of the race Honda have a better potential but Marquez just protected Lorenzo like he did in Phillip Island and also Sepang.
“At the end I think that also Lorenzo [has] to not be very happy, as it is not a championship that was won on track.”