Valentino Rossi still haunted by 2015 motogp title defeat

Valentino Rossi has admitted that the events surrounding the 2015 MotoGP World Championship continue to frustrate him more than a decade after his controversial title defeat. The Italian legend once again pointed the finger at Marc Marquez.

Rossi was speaking during an appearance on Italian television programme Che Tempo Che Fa, where he was promoting his forthcoming autobiography, My Story. Unsurprisingly, given the history between the two riders, the conversation turned to one of the most contentious episodes of modern MotoGP history.

The 2015 championship remains a particularly sore subject for Rossi, who was chasing what would have been his tenth world title and eighth in the premier class. Instead, he finished runner-up to Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo, after a series of events that began at the Australian Grand Prix and reached their most controversial boiling point in Malaysia.

Rossi accused Marquez of deliberately interfering with his championship challenge, arguing that the Spaniard was more interested in preventing him from winning than fighting for the title himself. Those accusations intensified following their clash at Sepang, where the two riders made contact, and Rossi was subsequently handed a penalty that forced him to start the Valencia season finale from the back of the grid.

Lorenzo went on to win that final race and secure the championship by five points, leaving Rossi to reflect on what remains one of the biggest missed opportunities of his career.

Speaking about the episode again, Rossi made little attempt to soften his position on Marquez's involvement.

He said that while he and Lorenzo were fighting for the championship, Marquez's priority was simply to make sure Rossi didn't win it, adding that the Spaniard ultimately achieved exactly that. That point of view is disputed by Marquez, although in the Spaniard's own 2023 documentary 'Marc Márquez: All In', he did confirm he actively chose not to assist Rossi. Speaking in the documentary on the matter, Marquez said, "If someone disrespects me, I’m not going to help them win."

More revealing, however, was Rossi's admission that his feelings about the championship have barely changed.

Despite more than ten years passing since the Valencia finale, he says thinking about the events still leaves him in much the same emotional state as it did immediately after the race.

Rossi even admitted that the strength of those feelings concerns him, suggesting that the disappointment has proved particularly difficult to leave behind.

He acknowledged that he sometimes has to remind himself not to dwell on the one championship he lost, rather than the many he managed to win during his extraordinary career.

It is an interesting admission from a rider whose achievements in motorcycle racing are unlikely to be defined by a single championship defeat. Rossi won nine world titles across three classes, including seven in the premier category, and remains one of the most successful and recognisable figures the sport has produced.

The timing of the comments is also significant, with Rossi's autobiography set to explore the rivalries and defining moments of his racing career. The book, titled My Story, is launching in Italy this week, with a UK release expected early next year.

Given the prominence of the 2015 Sepang incident in Rossi's career, it would be surprising if the book didn't devote considerable attention to the breakdown in his relationship with Marquez.

Meanwhile, Marquez has continued to build his own place in MotoGP history, with the Spaniard adding to his world championship tally and establishing himself as one of the sport's most successful riders.

More than a decade on, however, there appears to be little prospect of the relationship between the two men being repaired. Rossi's latest comments suggest that, at least from his perspective, the events of 2015 remain very much unfinished business.

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