Why Alex Marquez feels tumbling out of the MotoGP title fight is not a crisis

Alex Marquez is having his best season since stepping up to the MotoGP premier class in 2020 — the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of injury saga that almost ended his brother’s career.

After a gruelling spell with the factory Honda team and LCR, Alex’s move to Gresini in 2023 changed the erratic course of his time in MotoGP. From the 50 points he earned in 2022, finishing 17th overall (before sprint races were introduced), he jumped to 177 points in 2023, ending the season ninth under the new 37-points-per-weekend format.

In 2024, with Marc Marquez joining his garage, Alex was slightly overshadowed and even scored fewer points (173) than in his first season with the team, although he achieved his best final standing: eighth place in the final riders’ standings.

Alex Marquez’s true breakout, however, has come this season. He finished second in both the sprint and Sunday races in the opening three rounds — Thailand, Argentina, and Austin — and was championship leader heading into the fourth round, one point ahead of Marc, who crashed in the Americas GP.

As the leader and with the remarkable consistency he had shown in those first three rounds, many immediately saw Alex as a legitimate title contender. Others, more cautious, noted that the season was long — 22 grands prix and 44 races in total — and predicted that the younger Marquez wouldn’t be able to maintain the pace all year.

Alex lost the lead in the following round in Qatar, but held firmly in second place overall, claiming his first MotoGP win at Jerez and continued to consistently score points. At the Spanish GP, he took 34 out of a possible 37 points, and five times he has scored 29 in a single weekend. His weakest result in the first nine GPs of the season was nine points at Le Mans, where rain led to a crash on Sunday. Over those first nine rounds, Alex scored 230 points — 69% of the 333 available.

A minor crisis and crash in Assen

Since late June, the momentum has shifted from Alex. On Saturday at the Dutch GP, he collected his usual nine points, but on Sunday, while attempting a premature overtake on Pedro Acosta, he crashed and fractured a finger on his left hand — marking his second Sunday zero of the season.

His response in Germany, despite coming almost straight from the operating room, was remarkable. He only managed two points on Saturday, but finished second on Sunday against all odds, salvaging the weekend.

A week later in Brno, Alex made another overzealous mistake — something arguably normal when you know your real place is further up the order. Unfortunately, he also took down Joan Mir in the incident, which means he’ll have to serve a Long Lap penalty during the main race in Austria next time out.

“We have to learn from our mistakes and take the experience forward, so we don’t repeat them,” Alex said on Sunday afternoon in Brno, refusing to accept that he’s going through a crisis.

“We need to focus on the positives. We’ve had 12 GPs, there are 10 to go, and we’re second in the championship. No one can take that away from us.”

However, the 69% point haul he had achieved up to Italy has dropped to under 30% over the last three races — just 31 of the 111 points in play (27.9%). Meanwhile, the championship leader, Marc Marquez, continues racking up 37-point weekends with relative ease.

A vast gap to the leader

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Dorna

As a result, Alex has gone from trailing the leader by 32 points in Aragon, or 40 in Italy, to now facing an almost unbridgeable gap — even though there are still 370 points up for grabs.

“It’s true that we’re now 120 points behind the leader, so unless something very strange happens, it’s practically impossible to close the gap,” he admits, framing the fight for second as a worthy goal.

“What’s important is to keep going in our direction. And when things don’t go as well as on other weekends, we need to be a little more patient,” he added, having failed to score a single point in Brno – breaking a streak of 16 consecutive point-scoring GPs.

Alex believes that, given Marc’s current form and season, the gap between them now is more logical than the one before his recent dip.

“Being that close to the lead so far into the season was a surprise for us, and we knew why it had happened. Marc’s mistakes in Austin and Jerez gave us the chance to stay close for that long,” the Spaniard acknowledges.

Alex doesn’t rely on feelings to understand the gap with his brother.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

“The data clearly shows Marc’s superiority at all times. The factory Ducati team keeps fine-tuning, introducing small improvements that you can feel. They just keep getting a little better,” he explains. “We already knew that with what we have, we need to give our maximum every weekend and try to minimise damage.”

For Alex, who is 48 points ahead of third-placed Francesco Bagnaia, this is a success worth highlighting.

“Of course, finishing second in the championship would be incredible for us. It’s not just a fight for runner-up, which might sound a little odd — it’s a clear objective,” he concluded.