It’s been a decade since the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, but the fallout between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez hasn’t faded. Casey Stoner, once a rival of Rossi himself, has previously spoken about why he felt the Italian was wrong to start a fight with the Spaniard.
The 2015 season will be remembered as one of MotoGP’s most contentious title battles.
Rossi accused Marquez of aiding Jorge Lorenzo in his quest for a third premier class crown, an accusation that reached its breaking point when Rossi made contact with Marquez in Sepang.
As a result of his actions in Malaysia, Rossi received a penalty that carried over to the final race in Valencia. Lorenzo capitalised on this opportunity to secure the championship.
The mood at Yamaha was far from celebratory. Journalists present reported a ‘poisonous atmosphere’ within the team’s hospitality area, despite one of their riders clinching the title.
Casey Stoner once claimed Valentino Rossi picked the wrong person to feud with
Debate still rages over who was truly at fault, with supporters on both sides sticking firmly to their views.
Marc Marquez continues to face boos at Italian MotoGP events, while Rossi also recently heard jeers at the 2025 prizegiving ceremony in Valencia.
Speaking on Ducati Diaries in 2024, Stoner shared his perspective when asked about the ongoing tension between the two riders. He didn’t hold back in assigning blame for how things unfolded.
The former world champion said, “Marc to a certain degree deserved his criticism, he tried to get in there. But even though everybody blames Marc for the whole thing, people forget that Valentino started it.”
“Marc is Marc; we’ve watched him do that all throughout his racing, and then Valentino started a war of words.”
“They were all friends and all the rest of it, then Valentino started something, and then Marc retaliated because he didn’t like it. Then, of course, everybody blows up about that forgetting that Valentino went and poked the bear.”
“If somebody rides aggressively and you know that they’re capable of that, don’t go and think you’re above them to scare them out of it. You’re not going to scare someone like Marc Marquez out of it.
Casey Stoner pinpointed when Valentino Rossi ‘started to unravel’ in MotoGP
Stoner went on to highlight where he believes Rossi’s career began to come apart, linking it back to how he handled the situation with Marquez.
He said, “It’s hard, not all the time, but when you’re getting old enough, you should know better. When Valentino was at his height before myself, Dani, and Jorge got there, he used to be able to get into the minds of the riders around him.
“I still think he believed that that happened, but all he did when we were there, the younger generation, was strengthen us.
“We learnt his tricks, we learned what he’s capable of and then we learned our way around that situation. So yeah that was a mistake on his part.”
The rivalry hasn’t led to any kind of resolution between them. Still, both have been open about their respect for what each has accomplished in MotoGP.
This year after securing his seventh title in MotoGP Marquez spoke about reaching Rossi’s championship number saying it was ‘hard to believe.’
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