Sepang 2015: MotoGP's craziest weekend

Arriving at Kuala Lumpur airport from Melbourne in the early hours of Tuesday, October 20, 2015, all the talk was of a thrilling race in Phillip Island and how the title fight between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo might play out over the final two rounds.

Rossi held an eleven-point lead over Lorenzo, meaning he would get his first mathematical title chance at Sepang. But the Italian legend hadn't won since Silverstone in August and his Yamaha team-mate was now consistently the faster.

The Haze

We left the airport to be confronted by what is now known as the “2015 South East Asian Haze”.

Caused by smoke from wildfires in Indonesia, the restricted visibility left Sepang enveloped in a thick fog. The air pollution was also known to cause respiratory problems, and there was advice on staying indoors and using masks.

The huge Sepang grandstands poking through the haze created an almost fairytale appearance when arriving at the track on Thursday morning.

Speaking to Dorna's then managing director Javier Alonso, in the Sepang pit lane: "The situation here, now, is that we are under 100 PSI, the Pollution Standards Index, which is a moderate level.

“At that level we are OK to be here and do any type of activity.

"If the levels go very high, probably more than 150, we will have to take decisions. But today the situation is normal, and therefore the race will go ahead as normal."

The haze was also a potential issue for the medical helicopter.

"Today the helicopter arrived so it wasn't a problem. We are monitoring this [visibility] situation both at the circuit and the hospital every hour.

“We are also checking by road how long it would take to transport an injured rider to hospital. They told us 30-35 minutes, but we want to be sure they are right.

"If the time is 30-35 minutes, then there is no problem to use transportation by road, if there is not enough visibility [for the helicopter].”

The Thursday press conference

The media room was buzzing with talk of the title fight, and the official pre-event press conference was packed as Rossi took his seat in the centre of the table.

The Doctor was flanked by Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales on his left, with Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone and Moto3 title elect Danny Kent to his right.

Phillip Island winner Marquez exchanged some small talk with Rossi before the conference began. Rossi then takes several long sips from a water bottle.

“It’s a very long season, always point-by-point with Jorge and it’s very difficult also about the pressure,” Rossi said, speaking first as the world championship leader. “We pass through all types of moments and we arrive here, two races to go, with just 11 points.

“I think it will be very difficult but at the same time a great battle to follow because the level and the speed [between us] are very similar and the difference in points is so small.

“It’s like one football match divided into two parts, the first [half here] and the second in Valencia.”

Quizzed on potentially winning the title in Malaysia, Rossi gave a slight dig at Lorenzo: “It’s the first chance, this means a little bit more pressure for Jorge because he has to arrive in front of me and try to take some points before Valencia.”

That seemed to touch a nerve with the #99, who later reacted: “No, no pressure, I think in Misano I made a great mistake and the championship was almost lost. So we can just win it! We cannot lose it, because it was already very complicated.

“In these last two races, we've recovered a lot of points. In Australia, I lost the opportunity to just depend on myself, by not winning the race. But anyway, it’s ok because we could only have gained four points or even nothing.”

What Lorenzo meant was that, if he had won in Australia, the extra five points scored over Rossi would have meant victory in Sepang and Valencia would guarantee him the crown.

Instead, if Lorenzo won both remaining races, but Rossi was second on each occasion, Rossi would be champion by a single point.

“We’ve been always behind and now we have the possibility to win, so we’ll try without fear, with nothing to lose and see what happens,” Lorenzo added.

Marquez had dropped out of mathematical title contention after the Japanese Grand Prix, the round before Phillip Island.

Nick Harris, conducting the press conference, asks Marquez about the title fight between Rossi and Lorenzo:

“Yeah, honestly, it’s really interesting to see. Of course, I would like to be there in the middle of the battle, but it’s not possible. So it’s really interesting to see and [all] we can do is enjoy this show. And try to learn about Valentino, how he manages the situation. About Jorge, how he manages. And then, of course, we will be to see from the outside and also inside of the track.”

The conversation moved on to Iannone, who came under attack on social media for overtaking Rossi for third on the last lap in Phillip Island, costing the Yamaha rider three valuable points.

“I think it was one of the best ever races in the MotoGP class,” said Ducati rider Iannone.

“It was not so easy [for me] because Marc, Vale and Jorge are really strong riders. I tried my best every lap. I’m happy about this race and my performance.”

Rossi defends Iannone from “stupid guys”

In the following Q&A session with the media, Iannone was asked about the insulting comments on his Facebook page after Phillip Island, by fans angry that he had passed Rossi, and if he would race as usual at Sepang.

“In my Facebook and Instagram, I have a lot of comments, but 90% are positive," Iannone replied. “I think it’s only an opinion, but a small part compared to the other people. I’m happy because I have a lot of support from my fans and I’m looking forward and focusing on this weekend and the last two races. I’m not worried.”

Rossi then admirably took the high ground when asked for his opinion on “what some of your supporters have been saying” against Iannone, for making the Phillip Island pass.

“I think they are not my real supporters,” Rossi replied. ”Fortunately, from here it’s difficult to follow, because you are not in Italy and everything. So I hear just after the race.

“It’s a great shame because these people are very stupid and unfortunately this is the time of the social network, where everybody can say their idea, also if it’s a very stupid idea!

“People like to speak badly about other guys that are more lucky than them. And with more talent. And are more happy because they do with their life what they want.

"In my social network, everybody has these stupid guys who speak bad about your life, your mum!

“It’s always a great shame because unfortunately you cannot speak with them. If you speak, you only lose time. So I’m very sorry for Andrea, who just did his race, and it’s normal that he tried to beat me.”

Rossi drops the bombshell

The MotoGP riders were then asked, “how many times they replayed the Australian race and if it’s possible to imagine another similar race this Sunday?”

Rossi checks that he should answer first, before leaning into the microphone.

“Yes, I see a lot of times the race in Phillip Island. And it was very interesting.”

Rossi pauses, then continues, picking his words carefully.

“First of all, because it was a great battle. I don’t know how many overtakes, more than 50 maybe. [Rossi is told there were 52]. High speed, good level, great bikes, great riders.”

Then he drops the bombshell.

“And, you know, if we can see another race like this? Especially we have to speak with him. With Marquez,” Rossi says, glancing briefly to the Spaniard.

Still smiling and looking ahead, the Italian continues: “Because… during the race it was more difficult to understand, but after when I saw the race later, it was very clear that he played with us very much.”

An intake of breath can be heard from the media, while Rossi laughs nervously. The camera pans out, revealing Marquez smiling as he looks at Rossi, who continues:

“Because mainly I think that his target is not just to win the race but also to help Lorenzo to go far and try to take more points on me.”

Marquez seems to shake his head from side to side, but his shoulders are bouncing with laughter, presumably unaware that Rossi is deadly serious. Lorenzo smiles cautiously as he reaches for a drink.

“So I think that from Phillip Island it’s very clear that Jorge has a new supporter. That is Marc,” Rossi says, laughing again and pointing to Marquez with his left hand to emphasise the point, but continuing to look straight ahead.

“So this changes a lot because for sure Marc had the potential to go away alone and, for sure, can be another type of race.”

Standing at the side of the room, I could see a look of confusion on the face of a Repsol Honda press officer, who suddenly sat bolt upright in a ‘what did Rossi just say?’ moment.

Marquez continues smiling as he looks at Rossi, who avoids eye contact. Lorenzo stares straight ahead and rubs his chin before taking his turn on the microphone.

Lorenzo calls Phillip Island an “unbelievable race” with “the four best riders fighting for victory to the end”. “I saw it twice and it was great to see, for some points, especially the last corners, and for another point not so happy with the last corners.”

Realising he’s jumbled his English slightly, probably because he’s still processing what Rossi has just said, Lorenzo adds: “I didn’t explain that so well, but it’s ok!”

Asked directly if he “feels that Marc helped you in Australia?” a deadpan Lorenzo quips: “Yeah! Mainly in the last lap. A lot.”

Marquez laughs, Rossi less so.

The Honda rider takes to the mic: “I saw the race of course many times, because it was nice and it was one of the first races this year that I was fighting there with the top riders. 

“We did a great race. Especially incredible last lap. I don’t know how was possible to see Lorenzo and, well, I was catching him a lot and after Turn 4 was when I believed [I could] pass him.

“But yeah, really happy for this race, because it’s one of the best of the year and we won it.”

Iannone backs Rossi: “Marc played with us”

Next comes Iannone: “An incredible race for sure, and I also think Marc played with us,” said the Ducati rider, pausing to laugh nervously.

“Because after I think… 15 laps, Marc after corner 5, goes really slow and I passed him with easy power,” he adds.

“But, I don’t know why. For sure [he] had a really good pace and so it’s a strategy, I don’t know.

“But okay, in another way it’s a really good race and I’m really happy about the performance, the battle, because it’s the first time I fight with Vale, Marc and Jorge in MotoGP.

After a brief interlude for a lighthearted question about the origin of Iannone’s “Maniac” nickname, the laughter stops, and a tense atmosphere in the room is clear.

“Marc, did you help Lorenzo?”

Then a straight question to Marquez: “Marc, did you play with them, did you help Lorenzo to win the race and maybe win the championship?”

Marquez shakes his head from side-to-side, shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

“Of course not. Of course, I did my race. And in fact, if I want to help Lorenzo, I didn’t [wouldn’t] pass him in the last lap and I didn’t [wouldn’t] push to the limit. I [wouldn’t] take the risk.

“I don’t know why they say… also, we saw on the data that the Honda is pushing a lot the front tyre. And in this race, it was the softest compound that we have. I was struggling a lot during 27 laps in a row.

“I would try to manage well the tyre, but it’s true also that in the middle of the race I tried to push and open a gap. And it was not possible. But you already know that my races will never be ‘push from the beginning until the end in first position’.

“I did my best, the best race for my team, and the most important for me is that we won. Of course, sometimes you try to manage the race, but I just will help [another rider] if it’s my team-mate. If it’s not my team-mate, I will push for the victory.”

Rossi’s attack escalates dramatically off camera

If the seriousness of Rossi’s accusations was in any doubt, he double-down in attacking Marquez when speaking to the Italian media directly afterwards.

Carrying a printout of the Phillip Island lap times, he said: "Marquez was a step above everyone, but instead of trying to battle Lorenzo, he stayed with me to fight with Iannone and others. He knew that I was losing out to the Ducati on the straight. And so every time I tried to pass him, he re-overtook me. But then he slowed to create a gap to Jorge.

"His bad luck was that on Sunday, Jorge was not so strong, because otherwise it would have been over already. Instead, he always kept Jorge in check, knowing that he could catch him within 3 laps, and then tried to slow me and Iannone, perhaps trying to put other riders between me and Lorenzo. And in the end, that's what he did.

"He would prefer Lorenzo to win," Rossi repeated. "He is angry at me for a personal matter. Although he never said it, he thinks that in Argentina I made him crash; and then at Assen he is still thinking about the last chicane, in his head he feels he should have won that race. Since then he has been angry and thinking like a child: I do not win, but you do not win either. At this point, the lesser evil is for him is for Lorenzo to win."

Rossi added: "If I win another title, then [Marquez] knows that he will have to win one more to overtake me. If instead Jorge wins, then they have more or less the same."

Looking to the final two rounds, Rossi warned: "If he's faster yet slows down to get involved in the battles further back, it could become difficult. Because he has nothing to lose, but I do. I have to be wary.

“I'm sorry and I'm quite angry. I did not expect that Marquez was an obstacle for this Championship, I thought I was only fighting against Jorge, as it should be."

The Italian continued his sustained salvo by saying: "At Laguna Seca [2013] he wanted to do what I had done to Stoner five years before, when he could easily have passed three corners later. It was the first signal. And I said so, but I did not want to believe it. To think evil, it takes forever."

Removing any doubt about how angry Rossi was with Marquez, the #46 declared: "Did he really idolise me? Did he really have my poster at home? I'm not so sure. I'd like to go back in time and see...

"In the long run, I prefer more [Max Biaggi's] behaviour. We were obnoxious to each other, but at least it was clear and honest."

Was Rossi right?  And why it’s not the most important question

There has been endless debate over whether Rossi was right or wrong about Marquez at Phillip Island.

I think that misses the point.

Even if Rossi sincerely believed Marquez was conspiring against him, the real question in terms of his world championship chance was ‘how do we handle this?’ taking into account the following facts:

Fact 1: Marquez did not need to overtake Lorenzo

Marc Marquez did not need to pass Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap at Phillip Island. Lorenzo did not run wide or make a mistake that left the door open to Marquez over Lukey Heights and into MG.

Marquez could easily have stayed behind the Yamaha if his main goal was to maximise Lorenzo’s chances of beating Rossi for the world championship.

Instead, by overtaking, Marquez denied Lorenzo of five valuable points which, as Lorenzo said, meant the 2015 title was no longer in his own hands.

Ultimately, that pass showed that Marquez’s hunger to win at Phillip Island was greater than any potential desire to aid Lorenzo’s world championship chances. Otherwise, it makes no sense for Marquez to overtake.

And if Marquez was controlling the race, why did he take such a big risk by leaving it so late to pass Lorenzo?

When so much about the closing rounds of 2015 comes down to mind-reading, it’s a concrete moment where Marquez has a clear opportunity to do Lorenzo a big favour - by staying in second - but instead chooses personal gain.

And if Marquez repeated the Phillip Island performance - winning at Sepang and/or Valencia - it would massively boost Rossi’s title hopes.

Fact 2: The only rule that counts

Nothing that Marc Marquez did at Phillip Island came anywhere close to meeting the threshold for punishment by Race Direction. 

Everything a rider does on track, including team orders - the most common form of race manipulation and a widely accepted as part of motorsport - falls under one catch-all rule:

“1.21.2 Riders must ride in a responsible manner which does not cause danger to other competitors…”

In any championship battle, there are a range of feelings among the non-title contenders. Do they have the same nationality as one of the title fighters? Do they ride for the same team or manufacturer? Are they holding a grudge? Are they lifelong friends?

But whether your rivals love you, hate you or couldn't care less, all that matters are the actions on track - which must not be judged irresponsible or dangerous - and the result at the finish of each race.

You must abide by the rules as they are written. And Rossi didn’t present any evidence of rule-breaking by Marquez at Phillip Island, where there was not even any contact.

Talk of respecting (or giving special treatment) to the title contenders usually comes from the rider leading the standings, for the simple reason that if no other riders finish between the leader and his main rival, the leader is harder to catch!

But unless the rules are rewritten to allow only those in mathematical contention to start a race, or the rest are released 10 seconds later - farcical scenarios for a ‘grand prix’ - title rivals will always have to deal with other riders, who may or may not like them.

What was the master plan?

Rossi was a fearsome rival on and off track.

Throughout his career, he excelled at psychological warfare, destabilising his rivals with precision-guided comments in the media. Sometimes, these were in the form of the famous ‘barbed compliment’, a soundbite that was both positive and negative.

Example: “Casey Stoner has done an amazing job and is without doubt a great rider. But he is the first of the traction control generation."

Given what was at stake, it seemed inevitable that Rossi would seek to distract Lorenzo’s focus as the title fight reached its climax. Rossi would be failing to use all the ‘weapons’ at his disposal if he didn’t.

Lorenzo was also known to try similar tactics and certainly seemed braced for some kind of mind games in his direction. 

But as Rossi’s words were delivered in the Sepang press conference, Lorenzo seemed to be analysing them in his head, trying to work out why Rossi had attacked Marquez instead of him.

Most of the media felt the same.

This wasn’t some hot-headed young rider blurting out things he didn’t really mean, regardless of the consequences. This was Valentino Rossi.

So what were we all missing? How did turning his fire on a rider who had beaten Lorenzo five days earlier help Rossi’s cause?

Aside from Marquez not breaking any rules at Phillip Island, that’s the key point.

If Marquez had stayed behind Lorenzo in Australia, there would have been more justification for Rossi to risk going public with his accusations.

As it was, if the criticism of Marquez ended in the televised press conference, there might just have been enough wiggle room for Rossi to leave the episode hanging and for us all to wonder “how serious was he?”

The smiles, admittedly tense at times, from Marquez and Lorenzo in the press conference suggested they didn’t take it all to heart there and then.

Immediately after the press conference, I wrote: “Perhaps, already suspicious that Marquez harbours a grudge from their earlier clashes and aware of the huge role the #93 could play in the title outcome, Rossi wanted to put the spotlight on the Spaniard.”

But Rossi’s subsequent words to the Italian media left no doubt.

This was a full on, axe-through-the-front-door assault on Marquez as a rider and a person. There would surely be fireworks if they met on track.

How on earth could this play to Rossi’s advantage? Surely there was some kind of tactical masterplan behind it all, wasn’t there?

What else could Rossi have done?

Rossi couldn’t control what Marquez might or might not have been thinking in terms of the title fight, but he could control his own reaction to it.

We’ve all heard the phrases: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog". Or Napoleon's: "In war, the moral is to the physical as three to one”.

Those, and many other similar phrases, emphasise the significance of being mentally ‘fired up’.

And that’s exactly what Rossi did to Marquez.

Until that moment, Marquez, who had already lost the MotoGP title for the first time in his career, only had the pride of victories to aim for in the last two rounds. As he had achieved at Phillip Island.

Now he would surely be primed for revenge.

It was almost as if Rossi had vented all of the growing pressure he was feeling toward Marquez.

But how might the situation have been handled differently, from Rossi’s perspective?

If a rider is convinced of something, with so much at stake, rightly or wrongly, it must be taken seriously by his team - since it can play on the rider’s mind and affect performance.

Opinion among fellow and former riders remains split on whether Marquez was trying to assist Lorenzo to some degree at Phillip Island. But there’s no conclusive proof either way, and, again, Marquez didn’t break any rules and overtook Lorenzo.

Going forward, all that mattered from Rossi’s point of view should have been that his choice of reaction made things better, from his own title perspective. Certainly not worse.

It’s interesting that Rossi’s accusations were not delivered in the first part of the press conference, when he was guaranteed to speak, but quite late in the media Q&A session afterwards.

Since Rossi had waited that long, it’s possible he was planning not to mention the Marquez ‘conspiracy’ in the official televised conference, but only to the Italian media afterwards.

Either way, the outcome would have been the same, since it was the words to the Italian media that torpedoed any hope of avoiding open ‘war’ with Marquez.

How might Rossi have addressed what he saw as Marquez’s support for Lorenzo, without opening a costly second front in his title battle?

Iannone walked the tightrope quite well, stating Marc “was playing with us” but stopping short of what his intentions might have been.

Rossi could have taken the same approach.

Use the “playing with us” phrase, which suggests something abnormal, but perhaps highlight Marquez’s incredible speed for the barbed compliment angle to keep everyone guessing.

Then step back and let the media interrogate Marc on the issue, keeping your own hands clean. Marc’s every move on track would still be studied closely, for possible favouritism, but without getting into a personal feud.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, might have been the wiser tactic for Rossi.

Bite your tongue, see how Sepang plays out - with a detailed plan for how to respond to any Lorenzo assistance by Marquez - and only go public once the season is over.

Instead, after the words on Thursday, things couldn’t have gone much worse for Rossi’s championship.

The absence of Jerry Burgess

Rossi had split from legendary crew chief Jerry Burgess, with him since his premier-class debut, the previous season and joined forces with Silvano Galbusera.

Rossi finished 2014 strongly, then carried that momentum into 2015, so the Galbusera partnership was clearly working.

But I can’t help but wonder if the absence of the straight-talking Aussie - who also helped Mick Doohan to five titles before a further seven with Rossi - wasn’t felt in the pressure cooker environment of the penultimate round.

Had Rossi discussed his suspicions about Marquez with Burgess, might Burgess have spelt out the reality of the title situation and kept Rossi’s eyes on the prize?

‘You’ve got your hands full fighting Lorenzo, and now you want to start an open war with Marquez, who isn’t fighting for the championship and beat Lorenzo in the last race?’

In other words, don’t be distracted by Marquez. All that matters is Lorenzo. And whatever Marquez thinks about you, he still beat Lorenzo in Phillip Island.

Instead, there was perhaps no one within Yamaha strong enough, personality-wise, to talk Rossi into a different approach.

As you’ll read later, Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis insisted he was not even aware of Rossi’s press conference plans.

Marquez learned from Assen

Rossi was almost certainly right that Marquez held some kind of grudge over their clashes in Argentina and especially Assen, where he was frustrated that Rossi kept victory despite straight-lining the gravel trap after contact during a pass by Marquez.

Marquez didn’t come across well in the post-race Assen press conference, appearing grumpy. Some might say he had good reason to feel hard done by, but even Spanish journalists felt the decision to let Rossi keep the victory was the right one.

In the long run, the Assen episode taught Marquez to do his talking on the racetrack - a phrase he would use as recently as Misano 2025 - rather than play out a confrontation in the media and risk looking like a sore loser.

The fact Marquez didn’t fight fire-with-fire verbally at Sepang, avoiding a retaliatory attack on Rossi during his subsequent media appearances on Friday and Saturday, only underlined that Marquez’s response would be on track.

Simmering tension

Lorenzo was fastest from the Repsol Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Marquez in Friday practice at Sepang, with Rossi only eighth. Prior to qualifying, Marquez found himself closely following Rossi in both of Saturday's practice sessions. Had it been deliberate?

"I saw Valentino really, really far [ahead] but then in the exit of Turn 9 he stopped. And then I stopped,” Marquez said. "I was waiting because I already knew my lap time was already good enough for Qualifying 2, but of course I wanted to improve. And yeah, we were both waiting there.”

Rossi appeared annoyed at the time but avoided pouring fuel on fire afterwards: "Sincerely I don't remember very well, but I agree with Marc. Nothing strange. Just in FP3 he slowed down because he didn't want to go in front. But I think it’s normal. Happens every time."

Was it a sign that Rossi realised he had gone too far on Thursday? If so, it was too late.

Meanwhile, Marquez began Saturday's Qualifying 2 shootout with Lorenzo right behind him, meaning the Yamaha rider would benefit from a slipstream. Had Marquez decided to blatantly support Lorenzo in response to Rossi's attack?

Marquez insisted the answer was far more mundane. He couldn't hang around in the pits for track space as he planned to make three rather than the usual two qualifying runs. And Lorenzo was far from the only rider glued to his rear wheel.

"Here the plan was to try to use three tyres and we know that to use three tyres the time will be tight," Marquez explained. "Then when I went out on track it is not only Jorge behind. It was Iannone, Aleix, Crutchlow... many riders.

"I slowed down at Turn 5 and 6, but everybody stayed behind me. Then I said 'OK, I will push the first lap, not 100%, to try to avoid the slipstream and then on the next tyres I will push more'.

"I did not agree to give the slipstream to all these riders, but it was the only way to use three tyres. It was push, or lose one tyre."

Either way, the #46 received a boost when he beat Lorenzo in qualifying, claiming the final front row place behind Marquez and a flying Pedrosa, 0.4s clear of the field.

“This is war”: MotoGP’s greatest battle?

The race starts with Rossi slotting into third behind the Repsol Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Marquez, with Lorenzo slipping behind the factory Ducatis to sixth.

Lorenzo passes both Ducatis in one go, takes third from Rossi at the start of lap 2, then second from Marquez when the Honda rider runs wide into Turn 4.

Rossi overtakes Marquez for the first time on lap 4, after which a brief window for Rossi to escape existed, with Marquez initially unable to respond. But Rossi looks slightly off-line in a few corners, and Marquez is back on his rear wheel by the end of the lap.

“I have a feeling after what has gone on this week, [Marquez] will give absolutely everything to beat Rossi,” says Dorna’s lead TV commentator Nick Harris on the live feed.

Marquez then launches a pass into Turn 1, firing the starting pistol for two of the greatest riders in history slugging it out on the absolute limit. Passing and re-passing, in places where riders normally never risk an overtake, with bikes sliding and feet coming off the foot pegs.

“This is the dogfight the world has been waiting for, between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez,” says co-commentator Matt Birt.

“It was personal off the track on Thursday, it’s personal on the track on Sunday here at Sepang.”

As a racing spectacle, it’s one of the greatest duels ever seen. Inside the media room, we were all glued to the screens in wide-eyed amazement, wondering how it would end.

“This is a brilliant, epic battle between the old war horse and the new master!” says Birt.

“Woah! What a race!” agrees Harris.

Cheering from the fans could be heard over the engines.

“The crowd are going completely and utterly crazy! And I’m sure you are back at home,” says Harris.  “This is the battle we wanted after everything that’s happened this weekend – and we are getting it.”

“This is about more than just world championship points, this is about personal pride between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi,” says Birt. “This is a raging battle, but it’s given Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo the chance to break away.”

There was no way they could battle like this for the whole grand prix, something had to give.

“You shouldn’t have said all those things on Thursday!”

After retaking third again from Marquez, with a hard pass at Turn 8, Rossi looks over his shoulder and raises his left hand.

“I think Rossi’s saying don’t let us have this tussle, we’ve got the pace to catch up with Jorge Lorenzo,” says Birt. “This is one of the scraps of the century.

Harris: "Marc Marquez is saying back to him 'you shouldn't have said all those things on Thursday night if you didn't want to scrap like this old chap!'"

Either way, Marquez ignores the gesture and re-passes Rossi at Turn 14.

“It makes the Rossi-Max Biaggi fights look like a vicar's tea party, because this is war between two guys that have fallen out big time.”

“Pick a fight with Marc Marquez at your peril,” adds Birt. “That’s what Valentino Rossi did in the pre-event press conference.

“Some of the harshest comments we’ve ever heard from the nine-time world champion, aimed at Marc Marquez.”

More close passes follow - without contact - but everybody knows how the combat ends.

However, the earlier hand gesture by Rossi was perhaps more significant than it appeared, for two reasons:

1. Rossi didn’t seem to have a plan

Rossi and Yamaha didn’t seem to have a plan for how to deal with a furious Marquez should their paths cross in the race, despite it being widely predicted since Thursday.

With so much at stake, surely Rossi and his crew should have run through a wide range of pre-race scenarios - related to the track positions of Marquez and Lorenzo - and how best to deal with each of them?

Yamaha could also have asked for a pre-race meeting with Race Direction to highlight fears that something might happen and confirmation on the exact nature of the ‘riding responsibly’ and ‘causing a danger’ clauses in 1.21.2 so Rossi understood exactly what Marquez could legally do.

Ultimately, Rossi’s crew might even have decided: ‘If Marc is ruining your race - but doing nothing illegal - send him wide at a slow corner and get away from him. Make sure it’s a ‘normal’ racing incident so you don’t get penalised. Keep calm, don’t lose focus.’

Instead, the hand gesture suggested Rossi was surprised by the situation and didn’t know how to deal with it. Which brings us to…

2. Rossi was the ultimate street fighter

Throughout his career, anyone who went up against Rossi in a gloves-off battle always came off worse. Rossi’s ability as a racer, rather than a rider, was what made him so formidable.

I honestly thought Rossi would swat Marquez out of the way, in a perfectly executed ‘racing incident’ of course.

But here was the mastermind behind the brutal Sete Gibernau overtake at Jerez 2005, the famous corkscrew pass on Casey Stoner in 2008 and brilliant last corner lunge on Lorenzo at Barcelona 2009 gesturing to stop the fight.

As Rossi explained pre-weekend, he had far more to lose in that kind of situation than Marquez. So, it certainly wasn’t a balanced battle.

But it’s also worth remembering that Rossi banged fairings with his own team-mate Lorenzo while battling furiously at Motegi in 2010, when the Spaniard was fighting Pedrosa for the MotoGP title and Rossi was already out of contention.

Either way, seeing Rossi uncomfortable in hand-to-hand combat for the first time was a major surprise, especially having outwitted Marquez several times earlier in the season.

The decisive moment of the race was also incredibly un-Rossi like.

A blatant look over at Marquez while running him to the edge of the track at Turn 14 on lap 7 of 20, clearly exposed Rossi to the risk of a penalty for failing to ride ‘in a responsible manner’, even if the Honda rider didn’t crash.

When Marquez then tumbled after contact moments later, it became a slam-dunk case of ‘causing danger’ to other competitors. Inside the media room, journalists pointed at the TV screens in astonishment.

A penalty was inevitable.

“There’s going to be repercussions from that incident, I can promise you,” says Harris.

“What is going to happen in race control - this is not over by any stretch of the imagination,” confirms Birt.

Crime and punishment

With the TV images also appearing to show a kick from Rossi just before the Honda rider fell, it was widely expected that Rossi could be black-flagged.

Instead, Rossi was allowed to finish, in third behind Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo, before he and Marquez were called to Race Direction for a hearing. The judgement on Rossi was then issued:

“On 25th October 2015 during the MotoGP race of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, you deliberately ran wide on Turn 14 in order to force another rider off line, resulting in contact causing the other rider to crash.

“This is considered to be irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors and is therefore an infringement of Article 1.21.2 of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations…

“For the above motive, Race Direction has decided to impose on you the addition of 3 penalty points on your record.”

Combined with a previous Penalty Point from Misano, Rossi thus faced a disastrous back of the grid start for the Valencia title showdown.

Why the delay?

The dangers of Race Direction rushing a potential title-altering decision in-race would be made crystal clear six years later at the Abu Dhabi F1showdown between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

It’s also worth remembering that in 2015, Mike Webb’s role as Race Director not only covered running the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 events but also being head of the Stewards panel that decided on penalties.

Growing uncertainty over proof of a kick soon made Webb’s decision to delay and gather all the facts post-race the correct one.

After the podium, I headed over to the Race Direction building, where Rossi and Marquez were already inside, but guards blocked my path.

Returning to the paddock, I caught up with the likes of Randy Mamola (“We're all up in arms because what we had in Australia was something very beautiful.") before crossing paths with Mike Webb.

Webb explained that no decision was taken during the race as he wanted to speak to both riders and study all the video replays at length, then turned to the incident itself:

"I'm not going to quote what the riders said in the hearing, but I can give you a general idea. So from what we saw it would appear to be a deliberate move on Rossi's part to push Marquez off the track, or push him wide.

"We heard from both riders. Marquez told us that he was just riding his normal race and minding his own business, making passes on Valentino without contact. Which is true. And that he had no intention of disturbing Valentino.

"Valentino on the other side said it was clear to him that Marc was deliberately slowing down the pace and making it difficult for Valentino to race. That he deliberately ran wide in the turn in order to give himself an advantage in order to get away from Marquez.

"Finally, we actually believe there is fault on both sides.

"Despite what Marquez said we think he was deliberately trying to affect the pace of Valentino. However he didn't actually break any rules. Whatever we think about the spirit of the championship, according to the rule book he didn't make contact. His passes were clean. He rode within the rules.

"Valentino reacted to what he saw as provocation from Marquez and unfortunately his reaction was a manoeuvre that was against the rules. It's irresponsible riding, causing a crash. So he's been penalised for that. We believe the contact was deliberate. He says he did not want Marquez to crash, but he did want to run him wide."

A kick?

"Rossi's evidence is that his foot came off the foot-peg as a result of the contact. From all the video evidence there is no clear shot that definitely shows that his foot slipped off the foot-peg because of contact or that he deliberately kicked. I don't have that as a 'smoking gun' if you like."

Penalty points:

In terms of the actual punishment, Webb was asked to explain why Rossi received three Penalty Points, not more or less.

"It's a precedent. The last time this happened, where a rider deliberately made a manoeuvre that ended up in a crash was at Jerez this year [Hanika against Guevara]. In that case, we awarded five Penalty Points because the rider [Hanika] admitted he did it deliberately and it was as a result of him being frustrated with the other rider.

"So in this case, Valentino maintains he did not deliberately make the manoeuvre. However, our view of the whole situation - looking at all the evidence - is that he deliberately ran wide and therefore deliberately caused the contact by trying to run Marquez off the track.

"Hanika was a blatant 'Yes, I tried to hit the other rider, I wanted to hurt him'. This case was 'I did it by mistake' but the end result was still a crash."

When deciding on the penalty, Race Direction considered some 'provocation' from Marquez.

"It's my opinion on the way he was riding, the lap time, my perception is that, as many riders do he [Marquez] was trying to change the race," Webb said. "But I was very clear with him that he didn't break a rule. So he's not been penalised.

"However, we took that into account when making the penalty on Rossi, that he certainly had some provocation. But, as I said to him, it doesn't matter what the provocation is. You can't react in a way that causes a rider to crash."

Even if Rossi received five Penalty Points at Sepang - the same as Hanika at Jerez, and what he would presumably have received if a kick had been proven from the images - he would still have had the same back-of-the-grid outcome for Valencia.

Only if Rossi received less than three Penalty Points at Sepang would he have escaped starting at the back in Valencia. At the other end of the scale, he would have needed six or more Penalty Points at Sepang (to add to the Penalty Point from Misano) to trigger the next level of punishment, which was a pit lane start.

Mike Webb remains Race Director to this day, but the Penalty Points concept - a system requested by the riders themselves - was dropped and some members of Race Direction changed, which unfortunately gave the impression that procedures might not have been followed correctly.

But that wasn’t the case.

If two riders rode exactly like Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the outcome would almost certainly be the same: ‘Marquez’ would be riding within the rules, and ‘Rossi’ punished to some degree by the FIM MotoGP Stewards for ‘irresponsible riding, causing a danger’, with provocation.

Yamaha appealed Rossi’s penalty to the FIM, which was rejected.

Marc Marquez speaks

“On Thursday [in the press conference, Rossi] pushed me really hard, but in Australia I won the race, so I don't know what they want," said Marquez, speaking in the Repsol Honda hospitality on Sunday evening.

"When he [Rossi] overtook me the first time today, I tried to follow him, but then I saw I could be faster and tried to do my race.

"I tried to open some gap. But whenever I overtook always I was inside of the corner, when he overtook, he would go wide, come back.

"Of course, Valentino was disturbing me, and I was disturbing Valentino, because we couldn't find the best pace.”

On the moment of contact: "I heard that the Yamaha was coming, I shut [the throttle] a little bit, and he stayed completely straight on the bike, and he looked at me two times. I was [thinking] 'what's happening, what do I need to do?'

"I didn't expect that he would take off the leg and push my handlebars and my front brake. Then I lost the front and when I was on the floor, I saw him look behind again.

"For me, it doesn't matter if you are Valentino or another rider, [in] this type of incident, you are out of control."

Marquez insisted, somewhat unconvincingly, that he hadn’t been influenced by Rossi’s Thursday comments.

"Of course, what happened on Thursday was surprising for everybody, but I forgot and I did my weekend. All the eyes were looking at me and Valentino, and I went out to try to do my race.

"When Jorge passed me, I was not able to follow and also I was not able to follow Dani. I saw Jorge opened a little bit of a gap and I said, 'I will try to overtake him [Rossi] and push', but then when I overtook him, we started many overtakes until the moment [of the crash]," the 22-year-old added.

"I think this battle cannot go more far [than] to arrive at the point when another rider kicks with the leg.”

Rossi’s version of events:

“I didn't want to make Marquez crash and I didn't kick him," Rossi declared. "If you look at the images, as I did in Race Direction, frame-by-frame and you see from the helicopter. The helicopter is where you see it more, because from the side it looks like I gave him a kick.

"From the helicopter, if you see in slow motion, it is quite clear that I go wide. I don't want to say I do the normal corner - I wanted to go to him, slow down and make him lose time. Because it is the only thing that I can do, because in every braking he overtakes me, slow down a lot in the corners and for me he didn't open the throttle on the straights.

"When I slow down, slow down, slow down and I go to cut his line, we touch. He touched me with the handlebar on my left leg and it is for that reason he crashed, because he opened the handlebar on my leg and he crashed.

"But if you go slow, you see frame-by-frame that when I lose the foot on the footpeg Marquez is already down, he has already crashed. First of all, if I want to kick him, I can kick him also 20-30 metres before because we were already close. But especially if you give a kick to a MotoGP rider he doesn’t crash, because the bike is heavy, has a lot of grip.

"He just he touched my leg with the handlebar and he crashed. So I'm very disappointed for the three penalty points."

Quizzed on why he looked across at Marquez repeatedly as they ran wide, just before the contact, Rossi confirmed his sense of surprise - despite widespread expectation something would happen on track after Thursday:

"I looked at Marquez five or six times on the first laps. I looked at him to say 'what are you f**king doing? Why you do this another time?'"

The fact that Rossi reacted by ‘looking’ at Marquez, and presumably hoped that might make him back off, underlines the lack of a pre-race plan.

It’s worth underlining that three Penalty Points for Rossi in isolation would not actually have resulted in any punishment at all! It was only the addition of the previous Misano point that pushed Rossi over the back-of-the grid threshold, coincidentally or not.

"I think the penalty is too heavy. One point in Misano because I did a mistake on Jorge's qualifying lap when he already had pole position - and I've never taken a penalty point before because normally I am very fair on the track. I did a mistake and for me that was quite heavy already,” he said.

"For this, I'm very disappointed for the three points. He [Marquez] won [because] he decided the championship and he made me lose the championship. I think that he will be very happy."

Lorenzo 'loses respect' for Rossi

Lorenzo, who reduced Rossi’s title lead to seven points by finishing runner-up to Dani Pedrosa, said:

"I think not only me, but a lot of people will have less respect for him as a sportsman. Unbelievable rider, maybe the greatest rider in history, but as a sportsman I think many people will change their opinion.

"I don't think this type of action is a good action coming from [someone] supposed to be a great champion like Valentino Rossi is, no?

"One thing is a contact, another thing is to pull a bike completely straight, look at the rider and pull the leg out to make him crash. This shouldn't be accepted in this sport."

Again, the kick is disputed by Rossi and wasn’t proven from the images.

Dani Pedrosa steps up

Race winner Pedrosa also gave his initial reaction in the post-race press conference, which Rossi did not attend.

"I just had the opportunity to watch it now; it's not good... It's not good for the championship, it's not good for any of us and I don't think it's good for Valentino, for Marc, Jorge or me - even though I wasn't involved.

“The battle was there from the early laps [between Rossi and Marquez]. Sure, it was heated up from the press conference and practice sessions and then they get together in the race and start fighting quite early.

"The manoeuvres were okay; sure, Valentino wanted to have a calmer race and maybe try to catch Jorge for second, but Marc wanted to stay on the podium because Marc always has a fighting spirit and he has quite a good way to manage the bike and do special overtaking.

"[On] the last manoeuvre, I think when you have the inside, you can go as [wide] as you want because normally the guy on the outside should shut [the throttle]. But I can see that the speed is already very slow, so Marc understood that and closed completely the throttle, waiting for Valentino to turn.

"And then there is one moment when I can see Valentino's leg moving and Marc crash. I would like to see more times the image of this moment... Unfortunately, not a good thing and really disappointed about it."

Pedrosa also highlighted that, for so many years, Rossi had been an advocate of hard racing.

"In the past, I said many times we should race more calmly,” Pedrosa explaining, citing his own past grievances with Marco Simoncelli.

"But always Valentino was saying, 'this is racing and racing is like this and we should fight'.

“Now, he's changing his comments to what I was saying before. A little bit contradiction in this moment of what he always said and what he is saying now.”

“Today was the revenge of Marc Marquez”

If opinions were polarised at the time, they have only hardened since, most believing one hundred per cent of either the Rossi or Marquez camps.

But the initial comments of several key figures directly afterwards, such as Webb and Lin Jarvis, managing director of Yamaha Racing, are arguably the most informative.

“What we saw today was the revenge of Marc Marquez towards Valentino's statements in the media,” said Jarvis, who helped tempt Rossi from Honda to Yamaha in 2004.

"If you analyse the race in detail and study every move of Marc's, none of them were illegal in any way - but I think you have to see the bigger picture and question the motivation of the style of his race and the attempt to clearly disturb Valentino to the maximum.

"That finally resulted in an overflow of frustration from Valentino, that resulted in a boiling over.

“He made a move, an incorrect move, that took Marc out towards the side of the track. Unfortunately, Marc tried to turn in, hit the leg, and that caused him to fall off."

In other words, Jarvis feels Sunday’s actions were the direct result of Marquez being fired up by Rossi’s attack on Thursday, and a frustrated Rossi then made an incorrect move in trying to deal with it.

But Jarvis fully backed Rossi in insisting there had been no kick.

"A kick is an aggressive forward motion, but in this case his foot went backwards. Valentino said he was touched, his leg went off the foot rest and flicked out. I don't think it's very wise to try and kick a 157kg RCV!

“I'm not defending the actions - and that's why [Rossi] received the penalty. It was judged that it was a move not in the spirit of the rules of racing."

Crucially, Jarvis also confirmed he had not been informed of Rossi’s plans to publicly attack Marquez on Thursday.

"I was aware of his opinion of the race in Australia, but I wasn't aware he was going to say what he did.

“Normally we have a good connection with our riders, and we talk beforehand about things - but I think this was something Valentino felt strongly about, and it was his decision."

On whether it was the right decision, Jarvis added: "There are always many different ways of addressing a problem. Every action has a consequence. That's life!"

The shot

Incredibly, given the number of MotoGP photographers present and huge attention on Rossi and Marquez, it initially appeared that no one had caught the clash (outside of the TV footage).

But several trackside ‘snappers’, including Malaysian photographer Hazrin Yeob Men Shah, did get images.

Hazrin, a friend from many years at Sepang, explained that being in that part of the track, at that point of the race, wasn’t normal for a photographer.

He shot the famous image of Marquez on the ground and Rossi looking over his shoulder - the main picture in this article - almost by reflex, while making his way along the straight that follows.

Phillip Island-Sepang-Valencia

After all the criticism for ‘interfering in the title fight’ at Sepang, it was ironic that Marquez was then accused of not interfering in it enough at the Valencia finale, where Lorenzo won the race and title, while Rossi recovered from last to fourth.

Marquez, who followed Lorenzo home in second, insists he did try to win. But realistically, after everything that had happened, unless Lorenzo made a mistake, why would Marquez force the issue?

Many point to what happened at Valencia as proof that Rossi’s Thursday accusations at Sepang were correct. But that’s looking at the sequence of events in the wrong order.

As Jarvis said, what happened on Sunday at Sepang was a result of “Valentino's statements in the media” on Thursday. Likewise, Valencia was a consequence of what happened in the Sepang race.

Ultimately, as at Phillip Island, none of the riding at Valencia broke any of the MotoGP rules.

2015 was an incredible season for Valentino Rossi

Rossi, the hero of MotoGP, whose exploits and larger-than-life character propelled the sport to new heights, coped admirably with colossal pressure as he led the world championship for most of 2015.

At the age of 36, Rossi was 8 years older than Lorenzo and 14 years older than Marquez. 

Both Spaniards were in their prime, already double champions - Lorenzo in 2010 and 2012, Marquez in 2013 and 2014 - and vying to be Spain’s greatest MotoGP rider.

2015 was the last chance for Rossi as far as a MotoGP title. It was an incredible feat to lead for so long, especially when main rival Lorenzo was also his team-mate, meaning no technical advantage.

Meanwhile, Marquez and Honda were also highly competitive. Marquez had won a record 13 races the previous season and the RCV took victories with both Marc (5) and Dani Pedrosa (2) during 2015.

Marc Marquez has just blown away the current competition to finally win his seventh MotoGP title at the age of 32, so imagine how fast he was in 2015!

For Rossi, at 36 and six years after winning his last title, to defeat a much younger Marquez by a massive 83 points in the final 2015 standings - and fall just 5 points shy of Lorenzo - was a truly epic achievement, whichever way you look at it.

Nothing would have been bigger for the sport than Rossi winning the 2015 title, given his huge fanbase and iconic status, and there’s no doubt that commercially, he would have been the more marketable champion.

“The two of them deserved the title”

I spoke to Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal after the 2015 season:

"Everybody thought it was going to be difficult for Yamaha. Qatar [season opener] was one thing, when Marc Marquez had his problem on the first lap, but then race after race a Yamaha was at the front,” began the Frenchman, then running a satellite M1 team.

Yamaha won six of the opening seven events and went on to claim eleven of the 18 victories, plus a clean sweep of the riders', teams' and constructors' titles.

Lorenzo took the most wins (7), leading every lap on each occasion, while Rossi celebrated the most podiums (15) and scored points in every race.

"Jorge for me was clearly the fastest guy. But the fastest guy doesn't always win and he almost lost the championship, because to be a world champion you need to handle everything,” Poncharal continued.

“That means be very fast over one lap, be fast throughout the race - which he has been showing - but also deal with pressure and external factors like the weather.

"Maybe this was his 'weak point', but clearly in terms of speed and if you look at how many laps he led, how many pole positions, how many fastest laps and the way he was riding when he won those four races in a row... He'd just go.

“I remember the victory in the Czech Republic also, wow! So for me he deserves this title.

"But having said that, I think Vale did something amazing, honestly.

“He's 36 and a half. To fight Marquez, Lorenzo - plus Pedrosa and Iannone sometimes - being 10 or 15 years older than them is incredible.

"I know how I was when I was 20. Then how I was when I was 30-35. And I know the difference!

“To do what he did at his age, to have the possibility to fight to the last race for the title - where does he find the motivation to work, to take the risk, to push, to be so motivated? I don't know.

"This is for me maybe the best ever season for Vale, even if he didn't win.

"Almost everybody thought after his [leg breaking] accident at Mugello in 2010, then the tough Ducati times and seeing new guys like Jorge and Marquez coming in, 'Vale is maybe the greatest, but his time has passed'.

“Taking into account history and circumstances, it was an incredible performance from Vale and I think he's got to be proud of what he's done this year."

"So I say Jorge deserved the title, but for me they are almost equal. The two of them deserved the title.”

Lorenzo didn’t get the credit he deserved either

The sour end to 2015 also meant Lorenzo didn’t get the true credit he deserved for fighting back so brilliantly for his third and what would be final MotoGP title.

Lorenzo spent the final stages of the season having to push to the limit, but knowing any mistake would probably end his chances.

The fallout from the end of 2015 meant that, after spending his whole MotoGP career with Yamaha, Lorenzo signed for Ducati early in the 2016 season.

Rossi insists Thursday wasn’t a mistake

Speaking at the 2016 factory Yamaha team launch a few months after the Malaysian MotoGP, Rossi insisted he hadn’t lit the fuse for his own downfall by attacking Marquez in the pre-event press conference.

"I don't agree with those who say Marquez acted against me after the press conference at Sepang," Rossi said, contradicting Jarvis and the opinion of most observers. 

"He had already decided to do everything possible so that I did not win the title. My statements did not change anything."

Others will argue that Marquez’s race behaviour against Rossi changed dramatically from Phillip Island to Sepang, and the obvious catalyst was Thursday at Sepang.

Ten years on

Ten years on, and there’s been no substantial new ‘evidence’, despite many of the people inside the Yamaha and Honda garages having left their former roles.

Ultimately, the only people who know what truly went on are the riders themselves.

Only Marquez knows what his intentions were at Phillip Island, Sepang and Valencia (but either way, he broke no rules). And only Rossi knows if a kick caused Marquez to fall at Sepang (which wasn’t proven by the images).

Until then, we’re left with a never-ending ‘yes he did - no he didn’t’ debate, plus some questionably slow lap times by Marquez at Phillip Island and inconclusive TV images of Rossi’s foot moving as Marquez falls at Sepang.

In a perfect world, Phillip Island, a thrilling race of 52 passes, would have been a fitting end to the 2015 championship, regardless of who took the crown.

Instead, the season remains tainted by the bitterness of the final two rounds.

But whatever you think of it, nothing MotoGP has offered since has come anywhere close to the tension and raw, edge-of-your-seat sporting drama of Sepang 2015.