He got a fairly light penalty for slowing down and blocking Marc, I don't recall race direction saying anything about a kick because there wasn't one.
I see the issue is some people think that if they accept that Marc misjudged when Rossi was done blocking him and ran into Rossi's bike that means Marc was at fault for the crash. I disagree that Marc would've been at fault due to the deliberate way Rossi was blocking him in a non-racing maneuver. It's okay to admit Marc hit Rossi's bike, that's more realistic than trying to claim Rossi has supernatural abilities at everything he tries to do.
Forcing a rider to the edge of the track is punishable but in that instance it wasn't a big deal because they both had to slow down so much a crash was NOT forced. Marc understandably wanted to get by Rossi and was tired of waiting but he turned into Rossi's bike. I hold Rossi responsible for that, BUT Rossi did NOT force Marc to turn into him. Had Marc judged a bit better and waited .5 seconds he never would've hit Rossi's bike and there wouldn't have been a crash (at least not at that corner, but they probably would've kept up the battle until something happened).
A still picture doesn't show anything clearly, watching the video shows Rossi leg was stationary on the peg until you see Marc's bike lean further to the right making contact with Rossi's bike.
The racing line doesn't apply when Rossi's non-racing maneuver caused them to slow down so much. Marc would not have completely run off track if he didn't turn in exactly at that moment, he was not moving fast enough. I agree Rossi was at fault, I just look at the situation realistically instead of trying to embellish it with tales of kicks and knee flicks that send other riders flying.
MV, sit tight as what I am going to type may start a little hard but then soften.
Your continued defence of Rossi is admirable but to me it is somewhat misguided with the wordings you are using which are or may give the perception that Marquez was the one that caused the issue by riding into Rossi and that MM could have avoided the contact by choosing a different path or direction at turn point. I do totally note that you fully recognise that VR's actions were poor and totally uncalled for in a race situation, that action being the slow down and push MM out.
To me, MM had no option of when to turn and VR knew this and thus, as he had done all that weekend he played the man and not the situation. VR would likely have slowed if MM slowed or accelerated if MM tried to accelerate past - VR was consumed by the red mist of anger and for me had lost all semblance of calm and allowed that to impact his clear thinking. At that point, he was an extreme danger on track to himself, MM (obviously) and possibly others should they get hooked up in his pursuit of MM.
VR got out of that race light in penalty terms. He should have received firmer penalty or been disqualified for his actions of slowing on a race line, slowing to force a rider offline/wide and then avoidable contact with another rider forcing that rider to fall.
That said, and totally in a greement with you, I do not feel that VR kicked MM off his bike but rather what occurred was an outcome or consequence of VR's poor behaviour, but let us also not forget that VR has kicked riders in the past.
The admission in the video below that he wanted to slow/stop to ask MM f*ck - is enough indication that Penalty should have been greater (IMO)
I think the only reason Marc went down is because his brake lever hit Rossi's leg or part of Rossi's bike.
Yes and no. Totally IMO here and as mentioned earlier the words used are crritical to perception of blame (ie. MM turned in to and contacted VR's bike insinuates MM as culpable/contributary).
For mine, the contact was caused by MM's need to turn in or run off track and VR's continuing on the line to the outside of the corner (this kind of aligns to a comment of yours). While MM may have been able to avoid the contact by picking up the bike and running wider, his mindset would have been on racing and he woudl have been expecting VR to resume racing given that VR had successfully disrupted him. VR was in control of that situation as he knew what he wanted to do, knew he was not racing but I do not think he anticipated MM's turn-in but rather expected to continue to be able to push him out.
Either way, and something that for me remains unanswered is who, within team Rossi cam up with the conspiracy theory and then managed to get it so deeply into VR's head that it became an all consuming obsession that distracted VR to the point we saw?
Up until that point, VR was rarely flustered in the public eye but something or someone found a way to ruin things for him (not withstanding his own part in the whole shenenigans) and destroy him mentally. Personally, I feel that Sepang 2015 was a significant turning point in people's perception of VR as the fun-loving joker into something more sinister (not talking the purely obsessed here either) and resulted in a level of destruction of legacy.
I remember typing somewhere at the time, and it remains one of my prime thoughts but I do hope that VR had people with him around that time that were genuiinely watching his mental health, as all evidence at the time was not that of a healthy individual (yes, controlling maybe but he was unhealthy)
That said, what I have seen around the Bathurst 12 hour would indicate that he may well be back to enjoying himself again, as it is safe to say (IMO) that he so wanted title 10 that it may have become a little unhealthy.
