Speaker A
Oh, Marquez is gone! Rossi! Marquez has crashed! You’ve seen this image 100 times. That moment, that contact.
A deep dive into the 2015 Sepang MotoGP clash between Rossi and Marquez, revealing untold stories and its impact on the championship.
Key Takeaways
- The Sepang clash was a turning point that reshaped MotoGP's competitive and regulatory landscape.
- Rivalries in MotoGP extend beyond the track, deeply affecting riders' strategies and relationships.
- The 2015 championship battle was intensely competitive, involving complex dynamics among top riders.
- Race direction and stewarding evolved significantly due to the controversies arising from this incident.
- Behind-the-scenes stories reveal the human and emotional side of MotoGP racing.
What the video covers
- The video revisits the infamous 2015 Sepang clash between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, a pivotal moment in MotoGP history.
- It explores lesser-known stories and perspectives surrounding the incident, including insights from the 2015 World Champion.
- The tension and rivalry between Rossi and Marquez are highlighted, including their on-track battles and off-track press conference drama.
- The role of other riders like Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone is discussed, showing how the championship battle was influenced.
- The video features commentary from the race commentator and press conference host who witnessed the events firsthand.
- It explains the strategic moves and controversies during the race weekend, including accusations of race manipulation.
- The impact of the clash on MotoGP's race direction and stewarding policies is examined.
- Young riders from the Road to MotoGP™ and Asia Talent Cup are shown observing the drama, adding context to the sport's future.
- The video reflects on the lasting legacy of the 2015 season and how this incident changed the sport's history.
- It includes emotional and candid moments, such as the handshake between Rossi and Marquez after the race.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to the Sepang Clash
- 01:02Commentator’s Perspective and Press Conference
- 02:10Race Highlights and Key Moves
- 03:50Rivalries and Championship Stakes
- 04:35Marquez and Rossi: Tensions and Strategies
- 05:50The Role of Other Riders and Race Dynamics
- 07:40Impact on MotoGP Stewarding and Regulations
- 10:00Legacy and Reflections on the 2015 Season
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Frozen in time, analysed from every angle. But what if we told you there are more stories around that moment you didn’t know?
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Frozen in time, analysed from every angle. But what if we told you there are more stories around that moment you didn’t know?
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And what does the 2015 MotoGP World Champion think about what happened in Malaysia? Who, from the Road to MotoGP™, sat quietly in the press room that would explode minutes later?
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Did you know which rider was just behind? And which MotoGP Hall of Famer won the race that day but was overshadowed?
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I was the commentator of that race, and the host of that press conference that made everything explode.
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And what does the 2015 MotoGP World Champion think about what happened in Malaysia? Who, from the Road to MotoGP™, sat quietly in the press room that would explode minutes later?
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It is the first chance you have of winning the title. Valentino had not won a Championship since 2009.
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This is another view of what happened in Malaysia. And I don’t say that lightly.
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It’s now or never. If he doesn’t win it this year, he will never win it again.
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I was the commentator of that race, and the host of that press conference that made everything explode.
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When he feels he can win, he becomes a killer. The next words that came out of his mouth changed the course of history in the World Championship.
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Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Penultimate round of an amazing 2015 MotoGP World Championship. Valentino Rossi leads that World Championship, 11 points he leads Jorge Lorenzo in the Championship, and he does have a chance of winning the title on Sunday.
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Marquez again out a little bit wide through the Doohan corner. That’s given Rossi the chance to get glued to his back wheel through the Southern Loop.
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It is the first chance you have of winning the title. Valentino had not won a Championship since 2009.
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Marquez goes for the victory! He’s made that move stick. Rossi comes through on Andrea Iannone!
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And I think there was this growing feeling in the paddock that this is his time.
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Andrea Iannone takes third place, Valentino Rossi off the podium! There was one surprising moment after the chequered flag, straight after the chequered flag, Valentino and Marc actually shook hands afterwards.
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It’s now or never. If he doesn’t win it this year, he will never win it again.
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Every time he was in front of you he slowed down. Is he against me because he wants me to lose?
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Salute the master! Salute the Doctor! Salute Valentino Rossi! Valentino was leading and seeing his last chance to win the World Championship.
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His target is not just to win the race. But also... to help Lorenzo to go far and try to take more points from me.
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When he feels he can win, he becomes a killer. The next words that came out of his mouth changed the course of history in the World Championship.
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I remember that everything was very tense. You could feel it in the air. Every rider pushes for his own convenience.
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We have to speak with him, with Marquez. Because... during the race it was more difficult to understand, but when I watched the race later it was very clear that he played with us very much.
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Of course, of course not. Of course, I did my race and, in fact, if I wanted to help Lorenzo, I wouldn’t have passed him on the last lap, I wouldn’t have pushed to the limit and I wouldn’t have taken the risks.
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Marquez again out a little bit wide through the Doohan corner. That’s given Rossi the chance to get glued to his back wheel through the Southern Loop.
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And then we are going to do a picture with Ayumu Sasaki, of course, who is the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup winner.
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What is he doing? He’s doing it on purpose. Half a lap to go here in Australia!
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I was in the Asia Talent Cup and I won the Championship. I wasn’t really aware of the situation at that time.
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Marquez goes for the victory! He’s made that move stick. Rossi comes through on Andrea Iannone!
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I remember the Malaysian journalists turned to me and they said, “Is Rossi joking? Is this all a joke?” But it wasn’t a joke.
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Iannone back on Rossi! Marc Marquez leads the way! Marquez wins! Who is going to be third?
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This all started with their collisions in Argentina and in Assen. Here we go! #93 against #46!
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Andrea Iannone takes third place, Valentino Rossi off the podium! There was one surprising moment after the chequered flag, straight after the chequered flag, Valentino and Marc actually shook hands afterwards.
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He’s always like this. So, for sure, he thinks I don’t have to stay in front.
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And then of course, nobody could have predicted what was going to happen next. He was like that all race.
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Bang! He hit me with the front wheel. There will be a lunge from Marquez!
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Every time he was in front of you he slowed down. Is he against me because he wants me to lose?
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Rossi is going to win the race! Valentino Rossi wins the Dutch TT! Marquez: What’s the deal? Are we allowed to cut corners now?
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Yes. I couldn’t believe it, he told me the beginning of the race. Do you want to bet on it?
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But a lot of the focus of course should have been on the fact that there was still a Championship to be decided between Valentino and his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
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His target is not just to win the race. But also... to help Lorenzo to go far and try to take more points from me.
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In Q2, Marc was out front leading Lorenzo. There was all this, kind of, “Oh look, he’s trying to help Lorenzo again to get pole position or get a good grid position.” Marquez leads the way from Lorenzo, Rossi at the moment fourth fastest.
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So I think from Phillip Island, it’s very clear that Jorge has a new supporter, that is Marc.
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He does! Valentino Rossi, absolutely crucial, right at the death, takes the last place on the front row of the grid.
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I remember that everything was very tense. You could feel it in the air. Every rider pushes for his own convenience.
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I can’t believe it! And where will he be sitting in the Qualifying press conference?
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Marc, did you help Lorenzo to win the race, and to maybe win the Championship?
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Vale, do you think it’s time to forget about everything with Marc and concentrate on the race, and could you speak with him?
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Of course, of course not. Of course, I did my race and, in fact, if I wanted to help Lorenzo, I wouldn’t have passed him on the last lap, I wouldn’t have pushed to the limit and I wouldn’t have taken the risks.
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We will try to push well and fight for the victory, it looks like Dani is the strongest, but I know Valentino and Jorge will be strong too.
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In the middle of all the tension, there is one very young and aspiring rider, watching all the tension unfold, all the drama unfold with a front row seat.
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Don’t put pressure on yourself, because the pressure is on the other guy. We have to be clever today, think a lot and make him feel nervous.
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And then we are going to do a picture with Ayumu Sasaki, of course, who is the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup winner.
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We have to get to Valencia with a shot, and that’s where we have to finish him off.
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It’s a very good memory. I also have this picture on my phone. It was the day I met my idols.
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Every time this man appears on screen, this place goes electric. Marquez: The atmosphere here is really heated.
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I was in the Asia Talent Cup and I won the Championship. I wasn’t really aware of the situation at that time.
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Valentino Rossi, in there also Marc Marquez, certainly not sending Christmas cards to each other at the moment.
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I was too young. I spoke English but not as great so I was just taking everything in.
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Jorge Lorenzo has been swamped by the two factory Ducatis. Disastrous start for Lorenzo. Pedrosa leads Marquez.
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I remember the Malaysian journalists turned to me and they said, “Is Rossi joking? Is this all a joke?” But it wasn’t a joke.
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Lorenzo up into third! Stay calm! The race is long. Put “LOREN ROSSI” on the board.
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War was declared, wasn’t it, war was declared! This had been building for such a long time.
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Jorge Lorenzo sweeps underneath, and Lorenzo now into second place. What an important mistake that could be.
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This all started with their collisions in Argentina and in Assen. Here we go! #93 against #46!
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Rossi takes third place, he’s up the inside of Marquez! Marquez will fight back, Rossi up into third place through Turn 5 and now coming through Turn 6.
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Rossi leads. Contact there between Marquez and Rossi. Oh, Marquez is down! Marc Marquez has crashed out of second place!
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Marquez moves to the inside line! Marquez is going to make the move on Valentino Rossi!
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He’s always like this. So, for sure, he thinks I don’t have to stay in front.
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This is the dogfight the world was waiting for between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez!
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I arrived there and I overtook braking. I turned, and then in the middle of the corner...
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I was scared about not arriving on time. I was taking the risk of being on the scooter and watching them go past.
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Bang! He hit me with the front wheel. There will be a lunge from Marquez!
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There was a lot of tension on both sides of the garages at that stage of the season.
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He’s up the inside of Rossi! Oh, Rossi just holds firm! Rossi is through the gravel!
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If you look carefully to the top left of the screen, you will see Pecco Bagnaia supporting his great mentor.
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Rossi is going to win the race! Valentino Rossi wins the Dutch TT! Marquez: What’s the deal? Are we allowed to cut corners now?
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Marquez squeezes Rossi out again! This is a brilliant, epic battle between the old war horse and the new master!
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After that Thursday Press Conference, the rest of that Grand Prix weekend was just purely Rossi vs Marquez.
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Here they come up towards Turn 9. Here comes Rossi on the brakes! This is Rossi’s favourite overtaking point on the Grand Prix calendar.
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But a lot of the focus of course should have been on the fact that there was still a Championship to be decided between Valentino and his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
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You bet he will! Rossi up the inside! This is unbelievable action! Big moment for Rossi on the front!
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11 points separate Rossi and Lorenzo. The all, all-important Qualifying session 2 gets underway here in Malaysia.
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I’m lost for words. It was like the Wild West. It was just unbelievable. We ride with Marquez.
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In Q2, Marc was out front leading Lorenzo. There was all this, kind of, “Oh look, he’s trying to help Lorenzo again to get pole position or get a good grid position.” Marquez leads the way from Lorenzo, Rossi at the moment fourth fastest.
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This was personal. This was two massive egos. Two guys that are born to win.
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Can he push Lorenzo off that front row? Rossi pushing for the top three. Here he goes, over the line, Valentino!
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Rossi saying let’s not have this tussle, we’ve got the pace to catch up with Jorge Lorenzo.
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He does! Valentino Rossi, absolutely crucial, right at the death, takes the last place on the front row of the grid.
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Crucial World Championship points at stake. Marquez is going to cut it tight through Turn 14!
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How pivotal will that be for tomorrow’s 20-lap race, because Rossi now, one place ahead of Jorge Lorenzo on the grid.
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I don’t remember. It was you. Okay, but I was too far. So you weren’t able to see the battle going on?
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I can’t believe it! And where will he be sitting in the Qualifying press conference?
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What can Marquez do? Side-by-side they come! I’m working at a corner, but from my position I can see the previous corners even with fences, a dirty shot let’s say, not good enough to put on TV.
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Oh, next to Marc Marquez! Well thankfully, they’ll have Dani Pedrosa in the middle as the referee.
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Brave in the extreme! He rides around the outside of Turn 13 instead! He absolutely mocks Rossi on the outside.
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Vale, do you think it’s time to forget about everything with Marc and concentrate on the race, and could you speak with him?
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Son of a b****! You are trying to process instantly what you are seeing on the screen in front of you.
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I don’t know. I hope that all the riders do their own race to try get their own best result, and we’ll see what happens.
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There was contact between Marquez. A shake of the head from Marc Marquez. I was too far, but I was able to take the photo.
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We will try to push well and fight for the victory, it looks like Dani is the strongest, but I know Valentino and Jorge will be strong too.
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There’s going to be repercussions from that incident, I can promise you. This race is only just one part of the story of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
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I remember going from the hotel to the circuit, and we were really focused and we were joking about our situation and about the situation of Valentino.
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In that time, the Stewards Panel didn’t exist. Race Direction was handling all the penalties, so I was both Race Director and the effective chairman of the Stewards Panel.
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Don’t put pressure on yourself, because the pressure is on the other guy. We have to be clever today, think a lot and make him feel nervous.
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At that time, we were searching for definitive evidence of contact, of what the riders were doing.
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Today, we have to enjoy denying Valentino that first match point. We have to enjoy it.
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and after what’s happened all weekend, despite that, you’re still there? Do your own race, go ahead!
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We have to get to Valencia with a shot, and that’s where we have to finish him off.
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What a son of a b****! He didn’t want to make him crash. What will happen now? They’ll take all our points from this race?
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We have to depend on ourselves. In that situation, he’ll be really scared. Sometimes, you kind of get that sixth sense, you kind of get that feeling that today something is going to happen.
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It’s not lost yet. That Sunday afternoon in Malaysia was just complete chaos. Everybody was talking about Rossi vs Marquez.
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Every time this man appears on screen, this place goes electric. Marquez: The atmosphere here is really heated.
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He peels through the final corner. His second win in three Grands Prix. Dani Pedrosa!
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This is one hell of an atmosphere. A record sell-out crowd here in Malaysia. They come for one reason: the outcome of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship.
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I didn’t have any kind of problem. Joy on one side of the Repsol Honda garage.
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Valentino Rossi, in there also Marc Marquez, certainly not sending Christmas cards to each other at the moment.
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After what happened, I lost my concentration. I couldn’t ride. I just wanted to kill him.
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Marc Marquez got away well from the middle of the front row on the grid, so did Valentino Rossi.
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Ramon Forcada (Jorge Lorenzo’s Crew Chief): Even if you watch it, you shouldn’t give an opinion.
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Jorge Lorenzo has been swamped by the two factory Ducatis. Disastrous start for Lorenzo. Pedrosa leads Marquez.
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And of course, I needed to support my position in the fight. At some point, just before the podium, I met Valentino and I asked him directly what had happened.
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Here comes Lorenzo up the inside on the brakes! What a move by Lorenzo! And Lorenzo makes his move on the inside of the first corner!
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Then he was stopping in the middle of corners. Really? Yeah, like at Phillip Island.
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Lorenzo up into third! Stay calm! The race is long. Put “LOREN ROSSI” on the board.
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Everybody wanted to hear the thoughts of Marc. We called them both together. Basically, to hear both sides, that’s the way we did it.
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Marquez out wide at Turn 4. He’s got it wrong on the brakes down into Turn 4.
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Marquez: Good kick! Rossi: What? Marquez: Good kick! They very clearly defended their own positions.
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Jorge Lorenzo sweeps underneath, and Lorenzo now into second place. What an important mistake that could be.
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Mike Webb and all those guys took their time to deliberate over what they thought the sanction should be.
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Rossi now closes up on Marquez. This is going to be very, very fierce indeed after the war of words o
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We can’t talk. At that time, we had a system of penalty points. Valentino had already one penalty point for that season.
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The three took it to four, which meant a back of the grid start for the next Grand Prix.
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If I start last, it’s over. It’s over, we are f***ed. They gave us three points, so we start last in Valencia.
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No way! Wait a bit. There was Lin Jarvis and Massimo [Meregalli] and for sure they were waiting for me.
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They read it and they wanted to appeal it. So they then had an hour to submit everything to the Stewards.
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As a team, we appealed to the FIM. Valentino was heard by the FIM. Then, the FIM also consulted Race Direction.
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Then, the FIM also consulted Marc Marquez and Honda. And finally, after a period of 45 minutes or something, we have the result of the appeal, which is that it’s been rejected.
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This was the biggest story that MotoGP had had, probably in its history. It actually was a turning point in so many ways because it changed the way that Race Direction and the FIM MotoGP Stewards looked at racing in the future.
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This was a significant change. We quite quickly moved to a position where we have the FIM Stewards Panel, a separate panel, only looking at incidents, while Race Direction carries on running the race.
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A lot more technology involved, more people, and separating the jobs of the people so they can concentrate on their own things.
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This race, this battle, it will be talked about for the next 20 years, for the next 50 years.
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This is a race that will be part of MotoGP’s history. 10 years on, what happened in Malaysia is still remembered around the world.
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Millions of stories have been written, some you thought you knew, and others you’ve just discovered, all surrounding one of the most talked-about moments in sporting history.
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But this story does not end here. Sepang 2015 will always be under the microscope, and with time, more stories will emerge, waiting to be told.
Topics:MotoGPSepang clashValentino RossiMarc Marquez2015 MotoGP seasonJorge LorenzoMotoGP controversyMotoGP historyAsia Talent CupMotoGP championship
