Marquez: If you want to celebrate a crash, do it inside

On Sunday evening, Marc Marquez reserved some words for the fans that spent the weekend taunting him and jeering his every move, saying it was curious they celebrate a rider’s demise more than another’s triumph.

The reigning world champion was booed by the considerable Italian support everytime his image appeared on one of the numerous trackside screens around the undulating Mugello circuit.

And his fall on the third lap of Sunday’s MotoGP outing was greeted by cheers that were more akin to the scoring of a winning goal in a football match. “It is a curious thing about bike racing,” he said.

Marquez is no stranger to such reactions. A year ago at Misano a crash in morning warm-up was greeted with much trackside fanfare. He responded by blowing onlookers a kiss, and producing a devastating final lap attack that denied home hero Danilo Petrucci a maiden MotoGP triumph.

But the reaction at Mugello was more fervent. The fans even found time to boo Marquez in the immediate wake of Michele Pirro’s terrifying fall at turn one on Friday afternoon. “This says it all,” said the championship leader.

“Well, it is something I expected,” said Marquez. “To celebrate the crash of a rider is sad because we are taking risks on the track. I don't know if many people ‘celebrated’ my crash today but, well, it is curious that they celebrate a crash of a rider more than a victory of another. It is a curious thing about bike racing.

“Different factors also meant we arrived ‘here’. For me it says it all when on Friday we saw a rider in the gravel and we didn't know how he was and whether he was dead or alive – because you can imagine after a 300kmph crash – and they are only focussed on taunting who they saw in front of the cameras. This says it all.”

Would he react if his fans did the same to one of his rivals at the Circuit of Catalunya in two weeks’ time? “Obviously,” he said. “I said before in 2015 and in 2016 that I hope they support the racing as much as me and respect all the riders. This is the most important.

“If you want to celebrate the crash of a rider then do it ‘inside’. This is bike racing and we put our lives on the track. Anyway, this is something we cannot control but it is something that I ask my fans never to do towards another rider.”