How “nightmare” 2024 season led to Alex Marquez’s breakthrough MotoGP win
Gresini rider Alex Marquez took his maiden MotoGP win in Spanish GP
Alex Marquez admits he had “no interest” from MotoGP teams midway through 2022 before approaching Gresini to ride a Ducati for the 2023 campaign.
The 2014 Moto3 and 2019 Moto2 world champion made his MotoGP debut in 2020 with the factory Honda squad, scoring two podiums that year.
But the following two seasons with LCR on a Honda proved to be difficult, with Alex Marquez eventually signing for Gresini for 2023 to ride a year-old Ducati.
Having taken the decision to leave Honda, Marquez says he had no interest from teams midway through the 2022 campaign, but from his first lap on the Ducati in the Valencia test at the end of the year knew “the potential was there”.
He won two sprints in 2023, but wouldn’t stand on the top step of a podium again until last Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix as he celebrated his maiden victory in the class.
He only scored one podium in MotoGP last year in what he described as a “nightmare” season on the GP23, on which he struggled to brake how he wanted.
But he says this ultimately helped him to his win last Sunday at Jerez because he “got used to riding a bike that was a step behind the GP24”.
“I remember in ’22 I was in Sachsenring, so already half the season [gone],” he said on Sunday at Jerez.
“Everybody had the contract [for the next year], I was with no contract, no interest from the teams.
“So, I just went to Gresini, I just said ‘I want your bike, I don’t care about the other things, I just want your bike and see what my potential is.
“Give me one year and then we’ll see’. And, honestly speaking, from the first lap in Valencia with the Ducati I understand that the potential was there and it was a matter of time to come back.
“It’s true that last year, for me, it was a little bit of a nightmare at some points of the season because I was not able to be where my expectations were with the ’23 bike.
“But that was the year I learned a lot and for that reason this year I’m really competitive, because I get used to riding a bike that was one step behind the ’24.
“So, just that. Honestly speaking, in that moment in Valencia ’22 I realised that the potential was there and it was just a matter of time to get used to the Ducati to come back.”
He now leads the championship again by one point over Marc Marquez, but when asked if this victory changes his outlook on the title fight, Alex Marquez replied: “No.”
