The Rossi-Marquez Feud: When Fan Rivalry Turns Physical (2025)

Marc Marquez crashed out of Saturday’s Sprint race at the San Marino Grand Prix while leading. A section of fans in the grandstands were heard cheering as he slid towards the air fence.

Marquez was fine, and the reaction wasn’t a surprise. In MotoGP terms, this is effectively the home circuit of his arch-rival, Valentino Rossi.

Rossi may have retired four years ago but, as this race once again illustrated, the animosity between the two camps is still very real. The world feed broadcast cut to fans in the Italian’s merchandise celebrating.

Davide Tardozzi says Marquez showed ‘extraordinary’ kindness after the incident. He went on to win Sunday’s race ahead of home favourite Marco Bezzecchi, admitting that the crowd’s reaction had lit a ‘fire’ in him.

Valentino Rossi fans were seen fighting with Marc Marquez supporters at Misano

Speedweek have now shared ‘eyewitness reports’ from the grandstands in the aftermath of the incident. In addition to those loyal to Rossi, there were many cheering on the Bologna-based Ducati team, and Marquez specifically.

It’s said that the latter camp became ‘enraged and provoked’ when they heard some Rossi fans cheering. This led to some ‘physical altercations’ between the most ‘hardcore representatives’.

Between six and eight people were involved, and the situation calmed down quickly. But 10 years after the Rossi/Marquez rivalry exploded, these scenes were alarming nonetheless.

It’s worth noting that, according to Corriere Romagna, Italian and Spanish fans mingled peacefully under the podium following Sunday’s Grand Prix. The vast majority were able to co-exist.

Misano controversy should be the last straw for Valentino Rossi

Rossi appeared to laugh shortly after Marquez crashed, with Spanish broadcaster DAZN sharing the footage on social media.

As noted by The Race, Rossi has generally preferred to ‘pour fuel on the fire’ rather than pursue de-escalation. All the while, Marquez has tried to win over Italian fans by being diplomatic in the media.

Indeed, Scott Redding says Rossi could have stopped his fans from going too far in their hostility towards Marquez, but he hasn’t yet taken the opportunity to do so.

The ‘physical altercations’ at Misano should be the final straw, though. Rossi doesn’t need to praise Marquez or apologise by any means, but he needs to make clear that he’s moved on and send a signal to his fanbase.