Marquez: ‘I had the worst relationship with Rossi, it was like a divorce’

While their rivalry reached boiling point at the 2015 Malaysian MotoGP, signs were there very early on that an explosive rivalry with Rossi was beginning.

A clash between the two when fighting for the win in Argentina (same season) already showed that cracks were appearing in the pair’s relationship - Marquez made contact with the rear of Rossi’s Yamaha on the exit of turn five before falling - while incidents continued to take place between the pair following their controversial coming-together at Sepang.

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Marquez and Rossi diced it out for victory during the Dutch Grand Prix in 2017 - a race where Marquez ran into Rossi at the final chicane which left the Yamaha rider with no where to go but through the gravel - before another clash in Argentina during the 2018 season saw Marquez hit the side of Rossi, who crashed out as a result. 

Rossi was not the first, nor the last rider that Marquez has had an intense rivalry with, although the pair’s status as arguably the two best riders ever has made it very difficult for other rivalries to match it.

Speaking on the El Novato program with good friend and former Football player Joaquim Sanchez, Marquez alluded to needing rivalries for his own growth in the sport.

"I like rivalry, I can’t even train alone. Rivalry is what makes you grow," said Marquez. "I don’t have any friends in the paddock. When you fight for the championship with another rider there is nothing personal, but there is tension. 

"I had it with Lorenzo, with Pedrosa. That’s how it went with Dani; after the last race in Valencia our relationship changed."

While Marquez was far from having ‘friends’ status with Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, his relationship never reached a point where the two could not talk, which is the situation he finds himself in with Rossi. 

Marquez continued saying: "I had the worst relationship with Rossi. It was like a divorce, you can listen to one version or the other, but whatever happened, happened and it all blew up from there.

"When you are the strongest, like Messi, you don’t look for contact to warm-up the game because you are the best. On the other hand, when you see yourself as inferior then you do it to score a goal, something like that happened. 

"At the time of the championship when the controversy broke out, Lorenzo was faster than him. He tried to heat things up and in the end speed won."