AN ONGOING feud between Spain's Marc Márquez and Italy's Valentino Rossi has flared up again after a collision in Sunday's Argentinian Grand Prix led to accusations of sabotage.
Márquez, 25, was firstly penalised for bumping fellow Spaniard Aleix Espargaró after starting last because of having accidentally ridden the wrong way down the track ahead of the race, which was held up due to wet weather.
The Honda rider then clocked up a 30-second penalty after colliding with seven-times MotoGP world champion Rossi during an overtaking manoeuvre.
Normally unbeatable and current defender of his fourth world championship – the first won in his rookie year in 2013 when he was aged just 20 – Márquez came a poor 18th, with his childhood hero Rossi a place behind.
“He went for me, he's already made me lose a world championship and he's destroying our sport,” railed the Italian veteran, nicknamed in his home country Il Dottore, or 'The Doctor'.
Rossi, 39, claimed Márquez crashes into riders 'deliberately', which is 'raising the level to a dangerous point'.
He even told reporters he was 'scared' when riding against Márquez.
After the race, Márquez was bared from entering the Yamaha box when he tried to talk to Rossi about what he insists is a misunderstanding.
“Don't bother coming in here to apologise,” Rossi snapped at him.
As Rossi is something of a national hero, the Italian press did not mince its words this morning (Monday) about its views of Márquez's actions.
The headline in last night's Corriere della Sera read: “Rossi mown down by Márquez,” whilst La Gazzetta dello Sport and Il Corriere dellos Sport described the Spaniard as having 'thrown Rossi off', and Tuttosport described the Lleida-born child prodigy as 'crazy'.
Márquez told reporters after the race that he was 'very disappointed' with Rossi's comments and stressed that he had 'never, never, never' in his entire career 'gone for' another rider with the aim of provoking a crash.
“I always try to avoid crashing,” he insisted.
He said the collision with Rossi was because of 'track conditions' following the downpour ahead of the race, causing him to lock at the front.
Rossi and Márquez have never been on the best terms since the end of the 2015 season in which the latter was knocked over by the Italian, leading to a penalty which stopped him winning his eighth MotoGP world championship.
Márquez was out of the running already, but Rossi claimed the Spaniard deliberately hindered him to allow his compatriot Jorge Lorenzo to the front, enabling Lorenzo to win his second world title.
Somewhat overshadowed by the Rossi-Márquez feud, however, the UK had plenty to celebrate at the Argentina Grand Prix – British rider Cal Crutchlow (Honda), who started in MotoGP in the same year as Márquez, won his first race at this level.
Photograph: Valentino Rossi (right) bites the dust and blames Marc Márquez (left) for 'deliberately going for him'
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