Álex Márquez once again has his brother Marc as a teammate in MotoGP this year, now at Gresini. The two formed a duo at Repsol Honda in 2020, but Marc’s injury in the first round kept him out for the rest of the season, so they didn’t truly compete together at that time.
In an interview with the newspaper AS, Álex was asked if he feels it’s possible to outperform his eight-time world champion brother in the championship. In response, #73 assured that it’s not a priority:
– It’s too early to say, and I don’t want to pressure myself to be ahead of him. He’s not a normal teammate. With another teammate, you always have the rivalry of wanting to be ahead of him. This is a healthier rivalry and one that feeds you positively. It’s not bickering. Together, we add more.
Asked if he ever battled his older brother on the track, Álex Márquez denied it: ‘No. And neither did he. Having a battle with him is better because I know him so well that I know what he’s going to do. If it’s possible, he overtakes me, and if I can, I do too, but the respect is different than with any other teammate’.
On the other hand, Álex explained what made him happiest about Marc’s arrival: ‘As his brother, when he decided to take the step, I was very happy, not because he was coming as a teammate, but because I knew he was coming to the right place. I saw myself reflected in him when I decided to take that step. On a different scale, of course, because Marc is a big name in MotoGP, but I saw myself reflected in that attempt, not giving up, falling… I knew he was taking the right step, and it was like opening my arms to him and saying, «Come here, you’ll be fine»’.