Marquez or Rossi who is the strongest rider of all time?

Yet another clash between the two pluricampioni happened in Misano GP in 2019 during the Saturday practice has inevitably brought to light the old rust. Read Max Farmer Blog. A duel that seems endless, now at a distance, between pilots of different generations who find themselves face to face again after a long time. This story has led many on-line magazines to publish articles of all kinds, talking about the new clash between the two phenomena that have dominated the last twenty years of motorcycling, the two Gauls who are still in the same chicken coop.

From these readings, I came to think, a comparison between the two who have won more than anyone in MotoGP who seem to be as different as they are equal. They dominated, smashed records and opponents but comparing careers to date, who is the stronger of the two? An enterprise at the limit of the possible where it is necessary to take into consideration a myriad of factors and it is not even said that it can be done.

To start, the longevity ‘of Rossi’s probably as to have overlapped his career with that of Marquez , just think that Valentine to the World of Marquez debut already had 34 years in many, they have retired or will retire at that’ age , Doohan at 34, Schwantz at 31, Lawson at 34, Gardner at 33, Agostini at 35, Sheene at 34, to name a few. Therefore, comparing the careers of two drivers with so much age difference but who still race against each other for 7 years now, and establishing a winner also considering some direct collisions seen, is not an easy task, for a whole series of factors that must be taken into consideration.The choices they made, the bikes they raced with and the quality of the opponents they met in their career, also in relation to the period.

To keep in mind is the fact that Marquez has never changed bikes for 7 years while Rossi moved from the two-stroke Honda 500 to Honda in Motogp to Yamaha in the same amount of time, always winning, to then spend two unhappy years in Ducati and return to Yamaha since 2013.

In light of this it must also be said that both have been racing with the same bike and team since 2013. In recent years they fight more with numbers and statistics than with each other, after 2015 they have practically no longer had the possibility of a direct clash, thanks to the fact of a now different level of competitiveness. Marquez is at the peak of his career while Valentino is losing more and more ground, probably due to his age, perhaps, partly due to the competitiveness of the bike, but also due to the fact that despite having managed to adapt, also trying to adapt his style to a modern and more effective way of driving (introduced years ago by Pedrosa and Stoner, then perfected and taken to the extreme by Marquez) has no longer managed to establish itself as it did until about ten years ago. In spite of everything, excellent results, and some sporadic victories. The latest dating back, however, to more than two years ago.

The fact that Valentino is truly a veteran in the sport and that he has built an empire in motorcycling, with fans from all over the world and several generations in tow makes him somewhat of a legend, despite his best time has passed and still being at the center of public and media attention as much if not more than his rival reigning world champion who fails to enjoy the same fame and sympathy as the doctor, partly also for the series of episodes that we all know that occurred precisely to the detriment di Rossi in 2015, questionable behavior, which contributed not a little to a loss of image and a loss of sympathy on the part of many. This, however, in my opinion, it is not a factor to be taken into consideration when judging a driver’s abilities.

That Marquez was an out of the ordinary rider can already be understood since he landed in motogp in 2013, winning the title in the premier class in the first season and only 20 years old , a feat that Rossi failed when he made his debut in the distant 2000 in the then 500GP. Valentino, in fact, won the world championship at the age of 22 . Although at the time he had made his debut as a phenomenon out of the question, he did not win in the first year and he had no one like him to beat in those years, the multiple champion and ruler of the time would have been Mick Doohan, but he retired before his arrival … Biaggi to my opinion was the only real enemy to beat,even if, Rossi’s first year title in 2000 was won by the very lucky Kenny Roberts Jr who in that year won in a decidedly orphaned championship with Rossi still immature. Over the years, the Italian rider has also had to contend with young emerging drivers of the caliber of Stoner and Lorenzo who certainly did not make him have an easy life, however managing to establish himself again in 2008 and 2009.

Marquez, on the other hand, at his debut, found on his path the already multiple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo (the only one to have won a world championship in his era) and Valentino Rossi with the addition of an excellent Dani Pedrosa . If you remember they were jokingly defined by Meda, the fantastic four. Currently Marquez is dealing with new and stronger riders such as Rins, Vignales, Quartararo, many duels even against Dovizioso with whom he has lost more than once in the sprint … but at the moment, it can be said that none of these really succeed. to worry him, especially for the conquest of the world title.

As for the number of world championships we are almost equal, Marquez eight in 11 years of career and is 26 years old and Valentino is at nine in 24 years of career with a fast, however, that has lasted for ten years. It can be said that Rossi has won 9 world championships up to the age of thirty , so in theory Marquez still has 4 years and a world championship to win to match his rival at the same age . .

At this point and after all these considerations, in my opinion, it cannot be established to date who is the best because if it is true that Rossi wrote the pages of this sport as an absolute champion in his best years, he is also establishing another record. which is that of longevity at the highest levels, This year will be the last to be signed with the official Yamaha and it will now be almost certain to see him also in 2021 on the Yamaha Petronas. Marquez, on the other hand, is continuing to demolish records but his career is still long and we cannot really know what will happen, sooner or later he could meet a rider on his path who gives him a hard time as happened to Valentino.

Maybe one day when both of them stop racing it will be possible to make a balance … the question is: It will always be just a comparison of numbers and the numbers will decide the winner or we will be able to see them at least once against each other before the Rossi’s retirement?