“Rossi did a lot, Marquez has done a lot, comparing generations doesn’t make sense”

Comparing the generations of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez doesn’t make sense, a Dorna chief insists.

Rossi’s epic tally of nine world championships can be matched next year by Marquez, his fierce rival.

Marquez is switching to the factory Ducati team - where Rossi notoriously failed - but the bike underneath him is a different proposition to what his Italian counterpart once had.

“Of course Valentino has done a lot for the sport, but Marc, who is still active, has also done a lot,” Dorna sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta told Relevo.

“We have always had good riders and always idols, there have always been heroes.

“I think that comparing them from one generation to another doesn't make perfect sense.

“I think that the riders who are now in MotoGP are the best in history, what they do on the track... because mechanically the bikes, the tyres allow it, it is at a level that has never been done before and therefore these are the best.”

Rossi v Marquez feud consigned to the past?

A regular discourse is how rivalries like Rossi’s with Marquez or Jorge Lorenzo no longer exist.

This year’s title battle between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, even including Marquez, was largely respectful.

Ezpeleta was asked about the lack of old-school feuds, and he answered: “Of course the riders are the main characters of this story always, and we always say it and we never get tired of saying it, we do our best so that they can attract the sport to the widest possible audience.

“Whether they are fans of riders or fans of the championship itself, which in the case of MotoGP there are many.

“In other competitions there are really no fans of the league, there are fans of Madrid, Barcelona, etc. And in MotoGP there are.

“But I don't see anything that limits the riders we have now, I don't see anything that limits them from having that following.

“Our ceiling as a sport is the ceiling of the riders and with them we work so that this limit is as high as possible.

“I think they all have an incredible personality, we who live with them a lot and are with them all the time, they have nothing to envy.

“In the world we live in now, where drivers now more than ever have to be examples, not only sporting, but also social and ethical, to have figures like Pecco, who are always a 10 in their behavior.

“And let's say, it's a rivalry that MotoGP has been experiencing for a couple of years. They have been teammates in the past, in lower categories, you saw in all the events of these last weeks that there is a relationship with a lot of respect, with a lot of admiration I would say for each other which is incredible.

“Maybe it's much more popular that there is a rivalry, but we enjoy much more than what they teach us now.”

Marquez’s competitiveness after a barren period at Honda is crucial to MotoGP’s success, Ezpeleta admitted.

“Yes, Marc is a vital figure, I agree. Marc is undoubtedly one of the best riders in history,” he said.

“What he has done, what he has fought for, what he has worked to be back in competition, really with the possibility of winning races again, winning a title again.

“I think that many other riders, having had the trajectory and successes that Marc had already had, might have given up earlier and we have to give a lot of respect to what Marc has done because it is an incredible human work.

“Marc is a spectacular asset for the World Championship on and off the track. I think that this coming year there will be a lot of eyes on him and a lot of expectation.”