A superb charge from the last row and past eleven riders on the first lap and up to fourth by mid race distance, Valentino Rossi could not have done much more in his retaliation from the Malaysian Grand Prix penalty and for his slim championship chances with teammate Jorge Lorenzo so strong from the opening laps of the meeting itself at the Ricardo Tormo on Friday. An eleven second gap yawned ahead to Dani Pedrosa and soon increased to thirteen.

The 36 year old and leader of the series from the very first Grand Prix in Qatar – the first of his four victories this year taking him to a career total of 86 in MotoGP – could not have seen the Repsol Hondas chasing Lorenzo for almost the entire duration of the thirty laps but Rossi concurred with overwhelming popular opinion post-race that Marc Marquez was less than authentic in his claims of wanting victory at Valencia. The outgoing champion was timed at two tenths of a second behind Lorenzo but it was not enough to satisfy fans who’d questioned the absence of the Spaniard’s habitual attacking style from the two previous rounds in Australia and Malaysia.

To a packed Yamaha hospitality unit the nine times world champion explained his perspective on the race and the hyped situation around what Dorna billed as TheGrandFinale…

“This is the end of the championship that I think many people – me especially – did not want to see. I think this championship had the potential to be one of the best of the last years. Unfortunately in the last three races something changed that a lot of people did not expect and Marc Marquez decided to help Lorenzo win the championship. The problem started in Phillip Island and became worse. We arrived to Malaysia and unfortunately we touched and Marquez crashed. I knew when I’d have to start from last that my championship was finished and that Marquez would finish his work and try to protect Lorenzo also in the last race. I said this already on Thursday and it happened exactly how I expected.”

“The last lap was something that [has] never happened before. I played my cards in the best way but I am very sad to see this finish. I was ready to lose the championship to Jorge who is always very fast on the track but in this way, for me, it is not fair.”

“If you check the races of Marc Marquez in the last two laps then you know that he always try to overtake, even on the last lap. So the question is: why did he not try to pass Lorenzo and why did he not do it on the last lap? It was good for Pedrosa who was far but came back two seconds in those laps. For me he likes that it is ‘clear’ he helped Lorenzo! Afterwards he says it is not true but when I look at the television and see that he helped him then I think he is happy!”

“What can I say and do about the situation with Marquez? I have to ‘stop’ because I am scared?! I am just trying to explain my point of view.”

“Now this story is very ‘hot’ but next season other things will be more important, especially the motivation to continue and try another time. I am not too worried about next year. What happened does not change my plan. My contract is signed with Yamaha and I planned to race two seasons. This year I think I was competitive and did a good job and will try to continue.”

“If you check the history of man then I don’t think there is such a big difference between [the ages of] 36 and 37! I think next year I can go more or less at the same. Next year will be a new story and afterwards we will decide.”

Read the full reaction and see Ray Archer’s photo gallery on Tuesday in issue 118 of OTOR at www.ontrackoffroad.com

Photo by Ray Archer