Alex Marquez: "When I saw Marc crash, I said 'Today is your day'"
Marc's crash unlocks Alex’s belief as younger Marquez brother seizes emotional first MotoGP victory at Jerez.
Alex Marquez finally secured his long-awaited maiden MotoGP victory in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, turning heartbreak for his brother into family history in front of 101,000 ecstatic home fans.
The Gresini Ducati rider, who had previously labelled himself "Mr P2" after a string of seven consecutive second-place finishes, seized his chance when elder brother Marc crashed out of third place on lap three.
"When I saw Marc crash, I said 'OK, today is your day'," Alex revealed. "I knew with Marc on track, I still had a chance. But without him, I was the strongest."
Alex added: “When Marc lost the front, I was saying inside my helmet, ‘nooo!’ Because he was trying to save it for a long time, and then he disappeared.
"Then in that moment, it was like a 'click', he activated me in a really good way.
"I said, ‘it’s your day, you cannot lose the opportunity again like in Austin’. So I was emotional for Marc for 0.5 seconds! Then I just focused on my own race.”
Promoted into third by Marc's exit, Alex dispatched the other factory Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia before setting his sights on race leader Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha.
Outbraking the Frenchman into Turn 1 on lap 11, Alex then managed his pace before waving to the crowd through the final corners and clinching an fairtale win.
"I was already emotional in the last sector," said the double Moto2 champion. "Maybe Fabio and Pecco had an easier way in MotoGP. I had some tough years."
Victory not only delivered Alex's first grand prix triumph since his 2019 Moto2 title season but propelled him back into the MotoGP championship lead, by a single point over Marc, who remounted to finish 12th.
"This is at the same level as my two Moto2 titles," Alex said of his MotoGP victory. "It was super nice remembering my family, my grandfather, and especially Marc who was always supporting me."
The result marks the first time in history that two brothers have won premier class races.
2025 is Alex’s sixth season in MotoGP. The younger Marquez admitted his career had been at a crossroads in 2022, after two miserable years at LCR Honda.
“I remember in 2022. I was in Sachsenring, already halfway through the season. Everybody had a contract. I had no contract, no interest,” he recalled.
“I just went to Gresini and said, ‘I want your bike. I don't care about any other things. I just want your bike and to see my potential. Give me one year’.”
It paid off. From his very first laps on the Ducati at the Valencia post-season test, Alex felt he had rediscovered his potential.
“It was a matter of time to come back,” he said.
Marquez celebrated two podiums and two Sprint wins with Gresini in 2023, but struggled alongside his brother on the less competitive GP23 machinery last season.
It was “a little bit of a nightmare in some points”, he admitted, but the experience hardened him for 2025.
“It was a year when I learned a lot, because I got used to riding a bike that was one step behind.
Now on the GP24, which he hails as "the best bike I’ve ridden in my life", Marquez has finished on the podium in nine out of ten races so far this season.
"We know what we have, so we just need to focus and believe in our potential.”
Marc said on the eve of the Jerez weekend that he's "very aware" he could be fighting Alex for the MotoGP title at the end of the season.
The #73 again dismissed any title talk after Sunday's win and insists he'll enjoy each moment.
But - boosted by victory confidence, while the GP25 riders have doubts over their ability to follow other bikes - a Marquez world championship one-two could well be on the cards...
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
