Why MotoGP riders still have a point to prove against Marc Marquez
According to Mat Oxley, every rider in the MotoGP paddock still feels like they’ve got unfinished business with Marc Marquez. The comments followed Marquez’s close battle with Enea Bastianini at the United States Grand Prix.
The Ducati rider fought back from a long-lap penalty and finished just ahead of Bastianini by 0.102 seconds.
In his post-race interview, Marquez suggested that other riders raise their game when they go up against him. Speaking on the Crash.net MotoGP Podcast, Mat Oxley weighed in on those remarks:
Bastianini has previously said he doesn’t have a personal issue with Marquez, but there has been tension between them in the past. Their history includes some heated moments going back to last season’s title race and into this year’s opener at Portimao.
Marc Marquez Still Has Tension With His MotoGP Rivals
Bastianini gave up his Ducati seat to Marquez at the end of 2024, but their battle in Texas also had some recent tension behind it.
Bastianini wasn’t penalised for the qualifying investigation, but Marquez was hit with a penalty for his incident with Di Giannantonio in the Sprint. The VR46 rider didn’t accept an apology, telling Marquez to ‘be careful tomorrow’ ahead of the Grand Prix.
Marquez has always had a target on his back due to his success and aggressive style, and this weekend only added more fuel to that fire.
Speaking on The Race MotoGP Podcast with Peter Bom, Mat Oxley said: “The Bastianini vs Marc battle towards the end was one of the highlights. In qualifying, Marc screwed over Enea. It was close.”
“Every rider on the grid has got all kinds of reasons to want revenge over Marc.
“Every rider has got needle. They all want to take revenge on Marc for various reasons, either beating them up or embarrassing them – or both. Everybody’s got a score to settle with Marc Marquez.”
“Marc, especially, is high on everybody’s list for all reasons.”
Enea Bastianini on the fire behind his battle with Marc Marquez
Bastianini’s comments seemed to back up Oxley’s point. He said he felt a surge of motivation when Marquez came past him at COTA.
He told Moto IT: “I have to say that when Marc overtook me, I was fired up, but that was because I knew I could pass the rider in front of me after a few laps. Marc was coming from behind, and I knew he had excellent pace.
“I didn’t worry about tyre wear and just tried to stay behind him. I was almost there, but obviously we’re still missing a few things.”
Marquez is by far the longest-serving member of the current grid. Despite injury problems earlier in the decade, no one among today’s riders has made more starts than his 210.
When you’ve been around as long as he has, clashes with rivals are inevitable, and not every one of them can be quickly settled.
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