Sepang Clash: My View

MotoGP 2015's legacy will live on for decades to come. The sheer drama and action this season has produced will be recalled with fond memories when I'm old and grey. But not all of it will be looked back on with glee. The events of the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have left a bitter taste in fans' mouths and divided opinion greatly.

The crash on lap seven between Rossi and Marquez is the culmination of a weekend of tension between the pair, brought on by the Italian's scathing remarks about what he perceived as underhanded tactics in Australia to help Jorge Lorenzo to win the title. No one was quite sure as to what his endgame really was here, nor are we really any the wiser.

The incident resulted in social media meltdown. Fans were massively divided on whether Valentino kicked Marc or not. Before I tell you my thoughts, I decided to gather those of some of my ILM colleagues – they too were split on their opinions.

Chris Stevens:

“We did see his foot come off early when he nearly dropped it a turn eleven, could have been about to lose the front again.”

Frank Parker:

“As a super impartial person, that was a clear case – he, Marquez, was kicked!”

Alice Holloway:

“To be honest I've seen the clip a couple of times now and his leg certainly moved. It does look like he put a kick in there. First time I thought it was a racing incident, 93 got too close or something, but watching it a second time I noticed his leg move and a third time made me think he pretty much sent a kick in.”

Lucy Morson:

“I've only seen clips of the incident, but I've see it from a few angles and I am of the opinion that there was a kick there and that Rossi did deliberately intend to take Marquez out – for whatever reason that I'm sure are more apparent to someone who follows the series more closely. Irrespective of whether this proves to be true or not, it's a massive shame for both guys – especially considering there was an almost Alonso/Sainz hero worship going on before this season and I hope that as a result MotoGP fans aren't denied a fantastically exciting end to a very closely fought season.”

Jason Harvey:

"Initially, the crash looked deliberate when viewing it live but all the replays show that it looked anything but deliberate. Rossi wanted to affect Marquez' race by pushing him wide and ruin his straight line speed thereby breaking the tow so Marquez couldn't take third place back. The first reactions were that Rossi kicked at Marquez but the replays do not support this verdict. In fact, race director Mike Webb confirmed in his explanation of the penalty handed to Rossi in that they don't believe there is evidence of either a deliberate kick or his foot accidentally coming off the peg following contact. However, I have to question why race direction decided that a penalty was necessary for basically forcing another rider wide and lose ground. It happens in many overtaking manoeuvres (for example Crutchlow and Dovisioso and turn 6 which saw Cal force Dovi wide and Dovi crashed out). I don't exonerate Rossi completely as he didn't need to get involved but neither did Marquez. Both are guilty in this incident and no punishment for Marquez is quite a surprise to me. For me, Jorge Lorenzo hasn't acted like a champion either after the race. He should have not got involved in the argument, he made irresponsible comments about overtaking under yellow flags and also forgot other incidents where Marquez could have caused similar issues. However, let's hope Valencia has the final say and whoever wins the title will be fully deserving of it irrespective of this weekend's action."

Having watched the incident many, many times today, considering all camera angles and pictures available, Valentino Rossi did not kick Marc Marquez. The jerking we saw was from the Spaniard's head clipping the Italian's knee as he was leaning into him. The contact unsettled Marc and he trailed the brakes a little too much, locking the front and crashing.

So Valentino is innocent in this instance, but that's not to say that he didn't deserve a penalty. Rossi did try and force Marquez wide to curb his run onto the back straight and allow the Yamaha rider to get some clear track to chase down his team-mate. Even Rossi admits this but, though he did not actually kick Marquez, he did cause an avoidable incident and this is not allowed. So the three penalty points and demotion to the back of the grid in Valencia is just, even if he doesn't think so.

Marquez isn't blameless either; he did somewhat instigate this. Rossi's comments on Thursday were the initial catalyst for Marquez acting as aggressive as he did on track, but he should have known that Rossi isn't going to submit to defeat willingly. This is something that the likes of Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau and Casey Stoner all found out the hard way in their battles with the Doctor. Marquez was deliberately duffing up Rossi to slow his pace and lose him time to Lorenzo, and this pushed the Italian over the edge. This is something Race Direction eluded to, but because Marc didn't cause any accidents he was within the rules.

So this is why Marquez didn't receive any punishment, and rightly so. He was definitely dicking around Rossi, but this is racing. If Marquez was penalised for simply racing Rossi then the precedent that would have set could be race-killing!

Jason mentioned Jorge's comments and this is something I feel needs touching upon. Lorenzo was very critical of Race Direction's decision, stating that his team-mate should have been excluded from the result. If that were to happen, then Lorenzo would have left Malaysia with a 21-point advantage in the championship. Agree with him or not, you can't help but feel that there is an ulterior motive in Lorenzo's comments.

How this fracas develops going to Valencia will be interesting. Will Marquez be out for vengeance and do whatever it takes to stop Rossi winning a tenth title? Will Lorenzo recruit the two Hondas as tail gunners? Will Rossi's grid penalty turn Lorenzo complacent? Simple answer is, who knows?

Just one week ago MotoGP was in the new for its wonderful racing after witnessing its greatest ever Grand Prix. One week later and it's back in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. Whatever your opinion of the crash, and please leave us your thoughts in the comments, I think everyone can agree that all we want is to get the season finale that we dreamed of and deserve.

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