The youngest of the Márquez brothers breathes “relieved” after his jump from the Honda to the Ducati of Gresini
“After the test I told Marc that he saw me as a ‘top five’ and he replied: “He has six because I will be in five,” says Alex
Alex Marquez He has closed the preseason with morale through the roof. The Cervera rider leaves behind a stage of “suffering and wear” in the LCR team, Honda’s satellite, to inaugurate another “very exciting” one with the Gresini’s Ducati. A radical change that has restored his smile and confidence: “More than proving anything to anyone, it was about proving to myself that I had not forgotten to drive, that I could fight for more”, he commented this Tuesday in a meeting with the media organized by its sponsor Estrella Galicia 0,0 in Madrid.
“The Ducati is clearly better and you can see that in the test times. They are all ahead” emphasizes Álex, who said goodbye to the last tests in Portimao on Sunday with the seventh best time, 4 tenths behind the fastest, Pecco Bagnaia and much better positioned than his brother Marc, who finished 14th with the works Honda. “In what the two motorcycles are most similar is in the cornering, but the Ducati is much superior in braking and acceleration. It is more predictable, the Honda is more difficult for you to understand”, he compares.
“And most importantly, the brand’s information traffic with its pilots is much more fluid and more effective. There is a problem and they solve it quickly, with the Japanese you needed a two-hour meeting,” recalls the youngest of the Márquez brothers, that these days he has to answer many questions about Ducati’s interest in his brother and the possibility of a change of scenery for the eighth champion following in his footsteps, if this year he finds that he has no title options with the RC213V.
“Marc has a two-year contract and the truth is, I can’t imagine him outside of Honda. But life takes many turns and who knows what can happen in the future. What is clear is that if Marc leaves the team one day, he will not it will not be for money but because he wants to win and he wants to be in a winning project, with a winning bike”, says Álex, who confesses that “he has been interested in my tests, but he doesn’t ask me much about the Ducati because he knows I won’t tell him nothing”.
And a revealing detail: Álex continues to trust blindly in his brother’s ability to react. He places him, without hesitation, among “the three drivers who will fight for the title this year, along with Pecco and Quartararo”. And facing the first race of the World Championship, on March 26 in Portimao, he confesses that “when I told Marc that I saw myself fighting in the ‘top five’, he replied: ‘Well, he has six, because in five I’ll be there.”
The 26-year-old rider from Cervera admits that “everything will depend on what I do in qualifying and then, in the race, I’ll have to see how to manage the degradation, because everything is new for me with the Desmosedici”. Álex does not consider the fact of having to face seven other riders with the same bike to be a problem: “On the contrary, it’s the nice thing. It was much worse to be in another brand and see that there were eight riders from another brand in front”.
The competition stimulates him, although to begin with he assures that “I would consider it good to finish seventh in my first year”. He admits that he does not believe he is “at the level Bastianini was at last year -whom he replaces at Gresini-, when nobody counted on him and he ended up winning four races and scoring several podiums with this bike”, but it is clear that his goal is more ambitious. than it seems at this point. Moto3 and Moto2 world champion, Álex senses that he can get the most out of what is today the best bike on the grid.
“At Honda they are suffering, it seems that they have an organization problem, but I also think they are going to improve because they have Marc, who is the most complete driver in all conditions and in all scenarios. At 21 Grand Prix, I give him as favorite in the World Cup”, he warns.
Lastly, and given the emergence of the sprint race format, which will bring the total number of tests to be held this year to 42 races, Álex values that “it’s cool that there are more races, but it will also be more stressful. Especially on Saturdays, because after the sprint race we will not be able to disconnect and we will have to start preparing for Sunday’s race now. Many things will happen, more touches, sprints… but I think there is more to win than to lose with this system”.