“Manipulator” Valentino Rossi accused of making “a mistake” with Marc Marquez

Valentino Rossi was mistaken in antagonising Marc Marquez in 2015, according to former Jorge Lorenzo crew chief Ramon Forcada.

Forcada, who was crew chief to Lorenzo for all three of his MotoGP titles (including 2015), believes that Rossi’s previous successes with what he calls “psychological warfare” led him to try to accomplish the same thing with Marc Marquez as the target in 2015.

"Rossi was a manipulator, in the good sense of the term, throughout his career,” Forcada was quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Against some riders it went well, against others not so well. But in the end it is legal, it is not prohibited. It can be done. You can't even say that he insulted [Marc] Marquez.”

In 2015, though, Forcada believes that Rossi “made a mistake” in attacking Marquez.

“That time he underestimated his opponent,” Forcada said. “He made a mistake. It had always gone well for him, but with Marquez it was different.

“He did not have the right consideration. He should have made him an ally and not an enemy.

“Also, at that moment, Marc had nothing to lose, he was very fast and very young. Valentino, on the other hand, has seen fit to put his finger on the wound.”

Forcada added that he is confused by Rossi’s attempts to bring the subject back up, such as in recent comments made by the nine-times World Champion on Andrea Migno’s Mimg Babol podcast; particularly when considering that there are currently four riders in MotoGP — including Marquez’s future teammate at the Ducati Lenovo Team, Francesco Bagnaia — who are a part of Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy.

“It's impossible to understand what Valentino is thinking of achieving with these words,” Forcada said. “I don't think they serve to take pressure off his [riders].

“Perhaps he is convinced that the enemy of his students must be Marc: the wound of 2015 is still in his mind and it hurts him. Maybe he believes that psychological warfare can still work.”