Marquez: My conscience is clear
After finishing second to Jorge Lorenzo in Valencia, Marc Marquez rubbished suggestions from Valentino Rossi that he had not given his best.
Marc Marquez insisted his conscience was clear after Valentino Rossi accused him of helping Jorge Lorenzo to MotoGP world championship glory in Valencia.
Lorenzo secured his third MotoGP title on Sunday, holding off Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in a tense finale to claim a seventh race win of the season.
Rossi - the leader of the standings heading into the final event - could only muster a fourth-placed finish after being forced to start at the back of the grid following his tangle with Marquez in Sepang last time out.
And the Italian made his unhappiness clear in Valencia, claiming Marquez had acted as Lorenzo's bodyguard while adding "today was embarrassing for everybody".
Responding to Rossi's suggestion that he had not given his best, Marquez said: "It's complicated for a rider, of course, but I have a clear conscience and so do my team too.
"We tried the maximum; we have given 100 per cent in every race. We have struggled to get the maximum points possible and wanted to end the year with a victory. It was not to be.
"This last week has been full of tension and we came here not quite ready. It was very hard to concentrate and this didn't help. In this race there was pressure to finish for me because I've already had six DNFs [retirements] this year.
"Finally Jorge was the champion who deserves it. He and Valentino both deserved it; one had great speed and the other the consistency. In the end of the year Lorenzo gained speed, but I think Valentino made a great season and would have also been a worthy winner."
Discussing the potential impact of Rossi's comments, two-time world champion Marquez added: "It is clear that the words of Valentino to his fans will weigh a lot.
"Valentino has won with charisma throughout his career and he is the benchmark for any rider. For me, for a rider with a winning mentality, telling people I did not want to win a race is an insult because whenever I go out I go to win and do the best job possible."
Lorenzo felt he did benefit from Marquez and Pedrosa being fellow Spaniards, but suggested: "If it had been in Italy and with two Italians behind Rossi then it would have been the same.
The newly crowned champion added: "The fact that they [Marquez and Pedrosa] knew what I was going for and that they are Spanish has helped me and in another race they may have tried everything to overtake.
"Dani did well because he could have tried a crazy overtake. We are Spanish and the title remains in Spain."