Alex Marquez: "I watched the race alone, I was crying again!" after Jerez MotoGP win

Alex Marquez admitted he was brought to tears again while watching a replay of his debut MotoGP victory at Jerez.

Marquez secured his first premier-class win last time out in Spain, which also moved the Gresini Ducati rider to the top of the championship standings, just one point clear of brother Marc heading into this weekend’s French Grand Prix.

“Yeah, I watched the race, alone!” Alex said at Le Mans on Thursday. “Because still the emotions were there and when I saw myself crying, on the sofa I was crying again! So better to watch alone.”

Despite the intense emotions, Marquez insists nothing has fundamentally changed in his mindset or preparation after finally becoming a MotoGP race winner.

“I don't feel any different. I mean, life is the same,” he said. “You need to go bicycling. You need to go to the gym. So everything is the same. A win cannot change you.

“The mentality and the approach to this weekend needs to be the same. So we will try to give 100% as we did in Jerez from the first moment, try to concentrate and focus on the job that we need to do. And that's it.

“We are leading [the championship], but in the end it's just six races. So we enjoy it a lot, but we need to continue.”

The best way to continue would be for Alex to build on Ducati's five-year winning streak, each with a different rider, at Le Mans on Sunday.

“We hope it will be a sixth win with a different rider! For sure, we'll try, but as I said, we need to go race by race.”

Alex also acknowledged the performance advantage held by his brother Marc:

“As I’ve said, Marc is still half a step in front of us. He made two mistakes and that's part of racing, but about pure performance, he's better than us. So we need to keep improving.”

When asked about Alex Marquez’s potential as a genuine MotoGP title contender, KTM’s Maverick Vinales, sitting alongside, replied: 

“From my point of view, it will depend on how much he will believe he can do it.”