Jakarta –
Marc Marquez still getting cheers and whistles from the Italian public. Ex-rider MotoGP Danilo Petrucci I’m sorry this still happens.
Petrucci was a direct eyewitness to Marquez’s cheering at the 2019 Italian MotoGP. At that time he won ahead of Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso.
Spectators at the Mugello circuit whistled at Marquez. This cannot be separated from Marquez’s history of rivalry with the Italian MotoGP legend, Valentino Rossi.
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This season, a similar scene was still visible, when Marquez won the San Marino MotoGP. San Marino, although administratively an independent country, shares a culture with Italy.
“That’s not part of this sport. Because it means forgetting that a racer risks his life when he’s on a motorbike,” said Petrucci, who is now competing in World Superbike.
“I’m sorry and it makes me a bit angry, that after all these years we still see it. Cheering on Marc Marquez, like everyone else too, is unacceptable, very bad.”
“When I won at Mugello with Ducati, Marc was on the podium too. I’ll tell you a story behind the scenes, if you look at the pictures there, there is a moment when I got close to his ear.”
“Well, I apologized at the time. I felt embarrassed, even though I was drowning in pleasure. Yes, I apologized to him. Those whistles are one thing I want to erase from that unforgettable day. This only happened in Italy. In other places, the drivers are not whistled at, never,” he added MOW Mag.
At Misano, Marquez received protection from his potential partner at Ducati next season, Francesco Bagnaia. Bagnaia made a gesture to the audience to stop cheering for the Gresini rider.
“I really appreciate Pecco’s gesture on the Misano podium and really hope it will be the last time. Also because if they think they can intimidate Marc Marquez with a whistle, they don’t understand that they are actually pushing someone like that even more,” continued Petrucci.
“They gave him a zero point lead when they whistled him.”
(raw/aff)
