Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has officially matched Valentino Rossi’s tally of MotoGP titles after a calculated performance at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Spaniard finished second behind Francesco Bagnaia, but didn’t look uncomfortable or as though he was pushing his GP25 bike once. It marks the 10th consecutive occasion that Marquez has finished a Grand Prix in the top two, as he and Ducati continue to be a dominant duo.
It was one of MotoGP’s greatest gambles to leave a big-money offer from Honda on the table, but the seven-time champion has reminded everyone of his talents once again. His margin of victory en route to becoming the oldest victor of all time shows just what a special talent he is.
Bagnaia won’t like what Marquez said about the ‘winner’ ahead of his first win on merit in 2025. The Spaniard doesn’t think that anyone will remember who was on top at the Japanese Grand Prix. Credit is due for his recovery, but Bagnaia’s revival doesn’t worry Alex Marquez, who still has to defend second place in the championship from him.
Alex Marquez says watching Marc Marquez complete his MotoGP comeback makes him ‘really happy’
Marc wouldn’t give Alex Marquez one of his titles, but he’d love to see his brother win one for himself. Unfortunately, it won’t be in 2025, but he has put up an impressive fight. Nobody expected that he would be his brother’s closest competitor coming into the season.
Marc celebrated the last of his triumphs in 2019, before Alex had even made it to the MotoGP grid, and before the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, he will get the chance to celebrate the family’s success, and it will taste even sweeter.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the race in Motegi, Alex shared how he is ‘really happy’ to have been able to witness Marc’s recovery and ascendancy from a horrific accident at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix. A seventh title is just the cherry on top of it all.
“Super happy for him, he deserves it,” he said. “He was the best one this year for [a] long [time], no doubt that he was better than everyone else. He was more consistent, he was the best one on track, and I mean, yeah, really happy for him after I had the honour, not the honour, [the pleasure] to see his comeback.
“The people just see the 10% of the comeback, so everything [he has done proves] that he deserves it. Everything that he did was him. I just try to help him many times, but he is him, what he [has] offered, he was there every day taking time to [heal] his body. Really happy for him.”
READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia shares his one ‘hope’ after Ducati gave Alex Marquez a factory bike for 2026
What was Alex Marquez doing the last time Marc Marquez won a MotoGP title in 2019?
2019 was a special year for the Marquez family. Not only did Marc claim a sixth title in seven seasons, but Alex enjoyed some success, too.
Boosted by five victories in a six-race span in the middle of the campaign, he claimed the Moto2 title, but only by a slender margin.
A big crash at the final round in Valencia left him vulnerable to KTM’s Brad Binder, who fell short of top honours by just three points.
However, it means that 2019 was probably the only year ever where each Marquez brother gets to celebrate winning a world championship, unless the two become teammates one day and claim constructors’ glory.
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