Alex Marquez explains Jerez MotoGP celebration ‘I didn’t have the balls to do before’
Alex Marquez took his maiden MotoGP win at Jerez last weekend
Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez has explained the backstory to his final lap celebration at the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix, which he says he “didn’t have the balls to do” before.
Alex Marquez scored his first MotoGP grand prix victory last Sunday at Jerez after capitalising on former championship leader Marc Marquez crashing on lap three of 25.
The Gresini rider has been ultra-consistent in 2025 so far, finishing second in all sprints and was runner-up in all but one grand prix prior to the Spanish GP.
Though twice a sprint winner in MotoGP, Sunday’s victory marked his first in a grand prix since the Czech GP of his 2019 title-winning Moto2 campaign.
Holding a several-second lead over second-placed Fabio Quartararo coming into the stadium section on the final lap, Alex Marquez was seen waving to the fans on the packed hillside.
It was a celebration he reveals his team wasn’t too happy about, but one he said he had wanted to do since he saw Jorge Lorenzo celebrating in the same way when he won the 2011 Spanish GP.
He admits he had a chance to do it in 2017 when he won his first race in Moto2, but was too scared at that time.
“The team didn’t [like it],” he joked when asked about his celebration.
“They already said to me ‘why did you do that with your hand?’
“I was in Moto3, or I was not even in the championship I think, when I saw Lorenzo doing that.
“And I said ‘fuck, if some day I’m there I need to do that’.
“So, in Moto2 I had a really big gap but I didn’t have the balls to do it.
“So, this time I said ‘I have to to do it, this opportunity I may not have again in my life, so I need to do it’. The crowd deserved it and it was a really nice moment.”
Alex Marquez’s victory at Jerez made MotoGP history as the Marquez's have now become the first brothers to win races in the premier class.
The Gresini rider also now leads the championship again, albeit by a point over Marc Marquez, heading to next weekend’s French GP.
Alex Marquez also ensured Gresini has celebrated at least one grand prix victory every year since becoming a Ducati satellite partner in 2022, joining Enea Bastianini (2022), Fabio Di Giannantonio (2023) and Marc Marquez (2024) in winning for the outfit.
