Valentino Rossi was mistaken in antagonising Marc Marquez in 201ܫ5, according to former Jorge Lorenzo crew chief Ramon Forcada.

Forcada, who was crew chief to Lorenzo for all three of his MotoGP titles (including 2015), believes that Rossi’s previous successes with what he calls “psychological warfa💫re” led him to try to accomplish the same thing with Mar💮c Marquez as the target in 2015.

"Rossi was a 🔯manipulator, in the good sense of the term, throughout his career,” Forcada was quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Against some riders it went well, against others not so well. But in the end it is 🐽legal, it is not prohibited. It can be done. You can't even ♑say that he insulted [Marc] Marquez.”

In 2015, though, Forcada b🌜elieves that Rossi “made a mistake” in attackin꧙g Marquez.

“That time he undere♔stimated his opponent,” Forcada said. “He made a mistake. It had always gone well for him, but with Marquez⛎ it was different.

“He did not have 🌠the right consideration. He should have made him ꦦan ally and not an enemy.

“Also, at that moment, Marc had nothing to lose, he was very fast and very young. Valenti𒁃no, on the other hand, has seen fit t🧸o put his finger on the wound.”

Forcada added that he is confused by Rossi’s attempts to bring the subject back up, such as in recent comments made by the nine-times World Champion on Andrea Migno’s Mimg Babol podcast; particularly when considering that there are currently four riders in MotoGP — including Marquez’s future teammate at the Ducati Lenovo Team, Francesco Bagnai𓆏a — who are a part of Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy.

“It's ✃impossible to understand what Valentino is thinking of achieving with these words,” Forcada said. “I don't think they serve to take pressure off his [riders].

“Perhaps he is convinced that the enemy of his students must be Marc: the wound of 2015 is still in his mind and it hurts him. Maybe he beli🤡eves that psych𓄧ological warfare can still work.”