‘I was suffering a bit’ - How Alex Marquez ‘stepped out from’ Marc’s MotoGP shadow

Alex Marquez admits he “was suffering a little bit” when he came to MotoGP with the pressure of being Marc Marquez’s brother, but began “shining for myself” in 2025.

The younger Marquez brother stepped up to MotoGP in 2020 with Honda as Marc Marquez’s team-mate, though the pair only competed in one race together before the latter’s serious arm injury.

Scoring two podiums in 2020, Alex Marquez struggled with LCR Honda over the next two years, before moving to the Gresini Ducati squad.

Steadily building into a frontrunning rider with the Italian outfit, Alex Marquez broke out last year when he won three grands prix and finished runner-up in the championship to Marc Marquez.

“I was thinking too much, trying to compare”

Alex Marquez has always had to deal with comparisons between himself and his older brother, which he says in a new video from the official MotoGP website was hard to deal with initially.

“The shadow of Marc, a multiple world champion as he is, is quite long,” he said.

“In the beginning, it’s true that I was suffering a little bit with the pressure.

“I was thinking too much, trying to compare myself with him; it was not the way.

“We don’t need to compare; I just need to take the positive things. I have the best example at home.

“I was coming to the race seeing that I was doing the same work at home as the one who is winning MotoGP is doing. So, that gave me a lot of confidence and motivation.

“Last year for me was something really unique, something really special.

“I was runner-up, I was many times on the podium, winning my first MotoGP victory of my career.

“So, it was something magical.

“I was really lucky to serve that year with my brother, but unfortunately, when you fight against one unique rider and a legend like Marc, you need to put your level higher still.

“It was the time that I felt most that I was going out from Marc’s shadow and I was shining for myself.”

Alex Marquez added a fourth grand prix win to his MotoGP scorecard earlier this season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

However, his hopes of battling for the title were effectively ended by a terrifying incident at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Despite suffering multiple fractures, the Gresini rider staged a return at the Czech Grand Prix about a month later.

He will move to the factory KTM squad next season alongside Fabio Di Giannantonio.