MotoGP riders feel the booing Marc Marquez received after winning the San Marino Grand Prix was “disrespectful”.
Marquez was met with boos from a small section of the crowd as he took to the podium at Misano fortnight ago following his second consecutive victory of 2024.
The six-time MotoGP world champion isn’t popular among some Italian fans due his explosive rivalry with Valentino Rossi in the mid-to-late 2010s, which saw the two riders clash both on and off the track.
Although Rossi has since retired from professional motorcycle racing and switched to GT3 racing with BMW, it’s not uncommon for the Spaniard to receive some display of hatred at certain tracks on the calendar.
Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia said he also has been receiving end of backlash from fans while expressing his disapproval of what happened at Misano.
“Like Franky [Morbidelli] said two or three weeks ago, haters will always hate, so I think it's a good answer,” he said.
“It is really disrespectful because I think we are giving our maximum every time and it's something that I don't understand.
“I read in some interview that it only happens in Italy, but it's not true because it also happened to me in Barcelona when I won.
“When you are there and you know that you are giving your maximum and you are trying to be better and better and take the best result possible and people in front of you are booing, it's very disrespectful.
“But honestly it's something that happens in all sports. Could be better if in our sport it could be more clean. But it's difficult to stop.”
Marquez credited his 2025 team-mate Bagnaia for attempting to silence fans on the podium at Misano, while adding that riders can do more to cut down on untoward behaviour from spectators.
“It's something that has been there,” he said.
“It’s true that the fans need to follow or support one rider or another, but the way to understand the sport is if you follow or support one rider, you just don't care about the other one.
“If you don't care about the other one it's not necessary to boo.
“But at the same time I want to say thanks to Pecco because I did not see it at the podium at the moment, but then they showed me a video that he was trying to calm a bit and this is something that the riders can stop and not the people or the journalists.
“For me it is fine, I was enjoying [being on the podium]. I understand at that moment the reason my reaction on the podium was a bit more upside [down] and just to give the moment to Pecco and Bastianini, they are the local riders.”
Pramac’s Jorge Martin said booing from fans is even more inappropriate in MotoGP given the risks riders take every time they are on track.
“For me we are giving our 100%,” he said. “Our life is a gamble, because we can die out there. For me there should be a bit more respect and this booing makes no sense.”
