Ducati MotoGP boss chastises Mugello fans booing Marc Marquez

Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi was seen angrily confronting a booing crowd on the main straight of the Italian Grand Prix sprint following Marc Marquez’s win.

Eight-time grand prix world champion Marc Marquez has had a fractious relationship with Italian MotoGP crowds ever since his major fallout with Valentino Rossi in 2015.

The latter accused Marquez of trying to sabotage his 2015 title hopes at the Australian Grand Prix that year, which led to their infamous clash at Sepang.

MotoGP legend Rossi has repeatedly stoked the flames of this bitter rivalry by continuing to claim he had his 10th world title stolen from him by Marquez.

This most recently happened last year following an appearance on Andrea Migno’s podcast.

Marquez often finds himself on the receiving end of a chorus of boos and jeers whenever MotoGP races in Italy, with that being the case so far from a small part of the fanbase this weekend at Mugello despite the Spaniard now riding for the factory Ducati squad.

Following his win in the sprint on Saturday afternoon, Marquez received some booing and whistles from the crowd on the main straight.

Spanish broadcaster DAZN captured footage of an angry Davide Tardozzi confronting the crowd, reminding it of the colours Marquez is racing under.

Seen putting his finger to his lips in a bid to silence the boos, Tardozzi shouts: “Oh my God, it’s red,” referring to Ducati’s factory colours as he points at his team shirt.

Mugello has been a particularly negative venue for Marquez over the years since his feud with Rossi erupted - most notably in 2016 when paddock security had to be beefed up amid threats towards the then-Honda rider, as well as 2015 champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi is present at Mugello this weekend as a representative of his VR46 MotoGP team.

Last weekend Rossi was on course to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGT3 class before the No.46 WRT BMW he shared with Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy broke down overnight.

Rossi has scaled back his car racing commitments in 2025 to be able to come to more MotoGP rounds.