Marc Marquez makes Valentino Rossi decision as he chooses top five MotoGP riders of all time

Marc Marquez has made a surprise omission when asked to name his top motorcycle racers of all time.

The eight-time world champion, who will make the switch to factory red with Ducati in 2025, enjoyed a return to form in 2024 on a year-old Gresini machine after leaving the struggling Repsol Honda squad - and will head into 2025 as one of the hot favourites to lift the MotoGP title, knowing that a ninth success would move him level with arch rival Valentino Rossi. The relationship between the riders has been strained since an infamous incident at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix and, despite hanging up his leathers in 2021 to move to car racing with BMW, Rossi remains a fierce critic of Marquez - questioning Ducati's decision to sign him for their factory team earlier this year.

Asked on the El Cafelito podcast in his homeland to name his top five motorcycle racers based on what he has seen and stories he's been told, 31-year-old Marquez had no hesitation in selecting Rossi - despite the pair's fierce rivalry, stemming from the 2015 Sepang race when Rossi appeared to kick Marquez off his bike. He said: "Well Valentino Rossi would be one of the first, but in order of titles you would put Giacomo Agostini. For me the greatest in history are Agostini, Angel Nieto, Valentino Rossi."

Marquez then paused and said: "It's complicated, I would say Mick Doohan after a very serious injury who won five titles, and the fifth, is complicated if you go back that many years, but from the current era I would put Jorge Lorenzo. I won't put myself in, I would never put myself in." He then agreed with the show's host Josep Pedrerol that it was for others to decide whether he should be included.

The Ducati Lenovo rider, who secured a best