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These days all we are talking about is Alex and Marc Marquez. Yesterday they were the protagonists of a press conference in Madrid organized by the sponsor Estrella Galicia and today a video was published (you can see it above) that brought them face to face.
What did they say to each other? Find out with us.
You both shared the garage back in 2020, riding for Honda. You Alex were just a rookie and Marc was the reigning champion. How do you both feel about this new chapter in your racing careers?
AM73: “Excited, isn’t it?”
MM93: “Excited, optimistic. Of course, it’s a new chapter, especially in my career. The project is exciting and motivation is super high, but I also feel especially calm. I made a very important decision. I chose a way and we will see if it’s the good one or not in the future, but the project is to try to find again that motivation and that racing spirit in the races, and fight for a good position.”
AM73: “For me, it will be my second year with Gresini team, but it will be very special to share again the team with Marc, as he will be a very good rival, also for the team and for myself in order to achieve the next level and become more consistent. He’s a world champion, so he’ll fast for sure. We need to be there and take a profit from his experience to achieve a great level, work together or, as I said, to achieve great things for the team.”
If you are both in a position to fight for victory against each other, do you think there will be any limits or will it be a fight to the maximum as it would be with any other rider? Is there any room for family concessions on this new scene?
MM93: “If we’re fighting, we’re fighting…” (Laughs).
AM73: “Yeah, exactly” (Laughs). Yeah, it’s like this. Well, I’m sure you have a little more respect. Maybe not respect, but you will overtake and think: “Ok, if I make any mistake, I better leave some room to let him go” or something like that, but in the end, if you’re on track fighting for a victory, you just try to find the best way for yourself.”
MM93: “Yeah, I agree with that. Of course, overtaking on the last lap is always critical, even if it’s your brother or any other rider, but if he is also your teammate, you have to be extra careful with the situation. We showed in 2022 that if we were fighting for a seventh position, it wasn’t even for a victory, we fought each other like if it was with any other rider, and this is also important, the spirit, because in the end he’s my brother and my teammate but also another opponent.”
How far do you think each other can go this season?
AM73: “As he said, he made a very important change in his career. He knew he had a great opportunity to go back to the top level, but it will also be his first year on a Ducati, on a new bike, so for sure he will have some ups and downs. We need to see, and he needs to see. In the preseason he will see what he needs to improve more, if he struggles or not, if the strong points he had on last year’s bike are also useful in this bike… For sure, he’ll be fast and will put the rest of us in difficulties. Anyway, it will be great to see how far he is going with this new bike.”
MM93: “For me, Alex already showed last season that he can fight for victory. Now, the most difficult thing or the most important thing is trying to understand if he can be constantly in that position or if he has some ups and downs. His clear target is trying to be in the top eight or six on every race, that would be good. Of course, if he can fight for more, it will be welcome, but it’s better to have low expectations now because we still have to make the preseason and, after that, you will be able to realize more which goal you can approach to. The second part of last season from Alex, after his injury in India, was super good. I was fighting for victory in Malaysia, he won two sprint races and he was constantly on the front two rows (of the grid), on qualifying sessions too, also racing with the top five…, so it will be good for me to have a teammate like him in order to learn how to ride the Ducati.”
AM73: “I don’t have any doubts that he will achieve the level because he already showed it. Of course, he needs to take care at the beginning of the season because there are a lot of Ducati riders in Ducati with more experience than him with this bike. He can be a bit stronger, see if he can score good points in the first few races and make a season stepping forward, then he’ll be in the fight. But, as he said, it’s too early at the moment to have any expectations.”
