Honda’s Nakamoto responds to Rossi allegations

Honda Racing Corporation’s Executive Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto has responded to Valentino Rossi’s accusations that Marc Marquez was riding to protect Jorge Lorenzo during yesterday’s Valencia Grand Prix instead of attempting to win the race.

Running behind Lorenzo for the entire race distance, Marquez never looked to make a pass on the new champion, saying afterwards that a lack of front grip meant that he didn’t feel confident to make a safe overtake.

However, an angry Rossi lashed out after the race, saying instead that Marquez was ‘protecting’ his fellow Spaniard – an allegation that the senior Honda boss instantly dismissed.

“This is not the atmosphere we wanted to experience at the end of an unforgettable championship. We understand that it’s been a very difficult day for Valentino, after leading the championship for 17 races and losing by just five points in the final race must be very disappointing. However, on the other side we cannot accept the strong accusations he has directed against our rider and Honda in the past weeks and in today’s post race press conference.

“Valentino has alleged that Marc never attempted to pass Jorge, who has clearly had a very good pace all weekend, which he demonstrated by taking a strong pole position in qualifying. Marc was struggling to stay behind him during the race and both him and Dani have done a great job to not lose too much distance to Jorge. We cannot accept that these accusations continue to surface time after time, as this is the perception of one person – which we respect – but it is not the reality.”