MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo's Crew Chief Targets Valentino Rossi - 'A Manipulator'

Saajan Jogia | Oct 1, 2024

August 26, 2012; Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC; MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi (ITA) looks on prior to the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Automotodrom Brno. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Jorge Lorenzo’s crew chief, Ramon Forcada, has called out former rider and VR46 Racing Team owner Valentino Rossi for prolonging his 2015 rivalry with Marc Marquez, accusing Rossi of using mind games to achieve his objectives during his racing days. Forcada noted, however, that the strategy backfired, escalating the tension and rivalry between the two riders.

The crew chief’s comments come in response to Rossi’s recent interview, where the Italian rider reignited the 2015 controversy by accusing Marc Marquez of "dirty" tactics that cost him the championship, which ultimately went to Jorge Lorenzo.

Forcada, who was Lorenzo's crew chief for all three of his MotoGP titles, including the 2015 season, believes Rossi’s history of playing mind games to gain an advantage drove him to attempt the same strategy against Marquez in 2015. However, that didn't go as planned. As quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Forcada said:

"Rossi was a manipulator, in the good sense of the term, throughout his career.

“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.”

Speaking of the 2015 MotoGP season, Forcada added:

“That time he underestimated his opponent. He made a mistake. It had always gone well for him, but with Marquez it was different. He didn’t give him 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.”

Rossi's decision to revisit the 2015 rivalry with Marc Marquez, especially in recent remarks made on Andrea Migno’s 'Mig Babol' podcast has bewildered Forcada. He said:

“It's impossible to understand what Valentino is thinking of achieving with these words.

“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.”

Among the many things that Rossi said, he accused Marquez of being the most dirty rider in the sport. He said in the podcast:

“Marquez is a very strong rider, a champion.

“He has always been quite rude, very aggressive, but in 2015 he crossed the line.

“If you are bad sportsman or aggressive you can be borderline dirty and I could give so many examples. But no one, among the big stars of motorsport, has ever fought to make another driver lose, that is what draws the line.

“Usually those who did certain things did it for themselves, they were dirty to gain their own advantage, because they wanted to win.

“Nobody has been as dirty as him.”