when Marc Marquez met Valentino Rossi for the first time, Vale had already won 7 world titles, 5 in the premier class, and he was fighting with Casey Stoner for his 8th. Marc had idolized Vale for pretty much his whole life, seeing Vale do races like this with Sete Gibernau, like this with Casey Stoner, and like this with Jorge Lorenzo. Marc was already just as competitive and hungry as Vale had ever been, 14 years younger and in his first year in the 125cc class (it would be a few years before the class was renamed moto3). Marc had a model car for Vale to sign, and one to give to Vale as a gift. Vale, who had already heard a little about the tiny 15 year old on a 125cc bike, said, “Ah, so you are the brave Marc.”
after Marc won his 125cc and moto2 championships, he moved to motogp and this was his very first race in the class. you can see the podium celebration here. and their relationship over the next 2 years just continued to get warmer and warmer, and they celebrated the same whether Marc won or Valentino did. even in 2014, when Marc won the first 10 races in a row and then 3 more wins on top of that, Vale said that racing was just more fun that year. some of my favorite podiums are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
bonus, the two of them battling in Qatar 2014 here
so how did two such competitive guys get along so well? well, the story starts about a decade earlier. around the time that vale was in a championship fight with Sete Gibernau, he’d sort of been flirting with the idea of going to formula one. he’d won 7 championships, he’d defeated his major rivals, time for a new challenge! he ended up deciding against it, but Yamaha were like oh shit! we’ve gotta find a future championship contender to replace Rossi when he leaves motogp! so they signed Jorge Lorenzo, hotheaded new talent from 250cc (now called moto2). and then Vale decided to stay in motogp, and now they had two very talented guys that hated each other in the same team. when Vale broke his leg in 2010, Jorge won his first championship that year. Vale decided pull his weight and demand that Yamaha get rid of Jorge or else he’s going to sign somewhere else. Jorge was in the middle of winning them a championship, Yamaha weren’t going to fire him, so Vale went to (insert ominous music here) Ducati.
Ducati was 2 years of hell for Vale. no wins. lost confidence. lots and lots of backhanded jabs with both Casey and Jorge. the above photo is of Vale crashing in front of Casey at Jerez in 2011 after Vale attempted to overtake him, which also took Casey out of the race. afterwards, Casey gave this scathing quote: “obviously your ambition outweighed your talent.” in 2013, Vale had to crawl back to Yamaha and ask for his spot back. also in 2013? the arrival of one Marc Marquez. so by the time they started competing against each other, Vale was trying to recover from his Ducati days and rebuild confidence. he wasn’t really a front runner in the championship or even in all the races. Marc didn’t really see Vale as competition, just as the former king of motogp having his last hurrahs before retiring. it was just cool to ride beside him. and if Vale was the former king of motogp, Marc was the one ascending to the throne. and Vale was encouraging the same narrative! he was always saying how Marc was “the new Valentino Rossi” and that Marc could either equal or surpass his records. he wasn’t in the championship fight, so he could afford to put his claws away for now. plus, he really likes mentoring people! so it was this perfect set of circumstances for them to like each other. Marc was still collecting Valentino Rossi model bikes all through 2013. they were always chatting during press conferences. Marc even went to Rossi’s ranch in Italy!
the ranch is Vale’s personal flat track, where he trains with the vr46 riders academy guys, hosts his own 100km race with invited guests, and will sometimes have a day at the track with special guests like Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo. it was something that he had talked about a lot with his friend Marco Simoncelli, who unfortunately died in a racing incident in 2011. Vale memorializes him by referring to Sic (which was his nickname) as the first student of the academy, even though he died before the ranch was built ❤️ the first student after Sic was Franky Morbidelli! many other students have gone through the academy, but the ones still there that are Grand Prix riders are Pecco Bagnaia, Franky Morbidelli, Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi, and Celestino Vietti, who is a moto2 rider.
in order, from left to right starting from the back row: Pecco Bagnaia, Valentino Rossi, Franky Morbidelli, Marco Bezzecchi, Luca Marino, Andrea Migno (former moto3 rider), and Celestino Vietti
Valentino was relatively chill through 2013 and 2014, but he was as hungry for another win as ever. he fired his crew chief Jeremy Burgess, who had been with him since 2000 through Honda to Yamaha to Ducati back to Yamaha, because he felt that Burgess didn’t believe he could win another championship. he was training harder than ever. then in 2015, suddenly everything changed. the Yamaha was fast. Jorge was struggling. the Honda was not good, so Dani Pedrosa (another great of the sport, but he had awful luck with injuries so he never won a motogp championship) and Marc were not doing well. Vale didn’t know if he’d get another opportunity to win his tenth championship, and especially not one as good as this. time to bring the claws back out and really go for it. meanwhile, Marc was dealing with going from winning his moto2 championship, to winning a motogp championship in his rookie year, to winning another motogp championship in incredibly dominant fashion, to suddenly not being at the top. he got a P5 in Qatar, then he won in the US, and then Argentina happened, which you can watch here.
Marc lost in humiliating circumstances, choosing the wrong tire while Vale gets it right and just eats away at his lead. when Marc tries to fight back, they bump into each other and Marc crashes out. Marc is very annoyed, but things pretty much go back to normal between them afterwards.
then in Assen, Marc is humiliated again. all during practice, Marc has been practicing this move through the chicane at the end of the lap in Assen. Valentino, having seen Marc practice this, comes up with his own move to counter it. Vale wins the race, Marc protests that the move wasn’t valid, Vale wins the protest and keeps the points. keep in mind, this whole time, their podiums still look like this, this, and this. in the press conference, Vale says that things are fine between them, but jokes that Marc will “get less kisses from now on.” the championship battle isn’t going as well for Vale, as Jorge has sorted out whatever his problem was and he is SO much faster than Vale. Jorge’s wins happen by getting out front and churning out fast laps, while Vale is winning by fighting tooth and nail for every position. he’s physically exhausted and feeling his age, anxious about the championship lead he has eked out. then Phillip Island.
hoooooly shit!!! ok so, the race is fantastic you should try to see it, but the important thing is the top 4: Marc in P1, Jorge P2, Andrea Iannone P3, and Valentino P4. with just two more races to go, the championship gap is getting way too close for comfort. Vale has to do something drastic to get things going. and what he decides to do is accuse Marc of trying to help Jorge win the championship to spite him. yes, he really did that right after a race in which Marc beat Jorge in a race for a crucial extra 5 points. I don’t know if Vale believes his own bullshit, but I would guess that he was mostly trying to throw the grid into chaos, hoping to use that chaos to his advantage and win. either way, he didn’t accuse Marc until the press conference just before the next race, in Sepang. everyone was shocked, most people thought Vale was joking! but he wasn’t! he had data with him, to “prove” that Marc was messing with him in Phillip Island to help Jorge! Marc, looking completely lost and heart broken after the press conference. Vale REFUSING to look at Marc the whole time!! and then the race!!!
genuinely heart breaking, check out this post!!
some journalists said afterwards that Vale didn’t think it through when he accused Marc. I think he did, but he miscalculated. instead of cowering under the might of Vale’s power and influence in the paddock, or racing so wildly that he crashed himself out, or really anything besides what actually happened: Marc got really fucking angry. he hounded Vale all of practice, then he attacked Vale again and again in the race, trying to ruin Vale’s race more than trying to win the race himself. Vale, who could’ve let Marc go first and get a tow up to Dani and Jorge at the front, instead was so furious with Marc that he responded to Marc’s antics in kind. the two of them were locked in this vicious fight, until finally Vale had enough and… did SOMETHING that ended with Marc crashing out of the race. Vale insists that he didn’t kick Marc, Marc insists that he did. fans and journalists and riders alike all have had different opinions on this, and ten years later there STILL isn’t a consensus! but no matter what really happened, Vale got hit with a back of the grid penalty for the next race, the final race in Valencia, effectively ending Vale’s run at the championship.
what’s so fascinating about them is how fast they became friends and how well matched they are, and yet it’s those very similarities that put them on an inevitable collision course. it’s tragedy at its best! there’s also this part of their dynamic where they both believe that the other ended things first. this is crucial to me, that they both think the other needs to apologize, and that they are not the one at fault.
after Sepang 2015, things cooled down quite a bit. Marc basically went on a mission to say “ciao” to Valentino at every press conference before the questions started, in an effort to get Vale to acknowledge him again. things started to thaw between them, or at least get more neutral (Vale has explained it later as it just being easier and less distracting to just say ciao to him back and make a little nice. being angry at Sepang caused him to lose control and dashed all his championship hopes, so it’s easier even if he doesn’t actually want to be friends with him). then the second big incident happened: Argentina 2018. Marc got hit with a penalty for not following instructions by the race stewards, which made Marc very angry, and he got so angry that he got super focused and had a far faster pace than everyone else in the race. his world had narrowed to a point where riders were simply obstacles, and Marc accrued so many penalties in his ride back up to the front that even his superior pace couldn’t make up for it. and one of the riders that he knocked down? Valentino Rossi! that’s when Vale dropped the nice façade completely and went on a rant to the press about how Marc is a dirty rider and how he’s ruining their sport. if you watch that race here, afterwards you can see Marc try to go to Vale’s box to apologize, but Vale’s best friend Uccio turns him away. Vale doesn’t even acknowledge him! it’s then and there that Marc realizes that Vale is never going to make amends.
in 2015, Vale had all the power in the media. at Valencia, a Spanish race, Marc was booed on the starting grid. he’s still booed in Italy to this day! but in 2018, Marc started to take more charge in directing the narrative. after Argentina, he offered a handshake to Rossi, knowing he would refuse, making the narrative that he was the reasonable one and Valentino was being rude. when Vale retired in 2021, a year after that Marc released a documentary telling his side of the story for the first time. Vale has gone on a few podcasts since then, but really all it’s done is make it look like Vale is the one who can’t let go and Marc has moved past all that. it’s the gift that keeps on giving! I love that neither of them have gotten over anything!!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey through Rosquez! there’s an official motogp video on 2015 that’s a pretty good summary here. Marc’s documentary about his 2020 injury is called All In, and the episode where he compares that injury to what happened with Vale is episode 3. if you understand Italian, or don’t mind autogenerated subtitles, 2 of Vale’s podcast appearances are here and here.
