Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez doubted whether he was truly at MotoGP level before he left the Honda setup to join Gresini. The 2025 runner-up shared the ‘hardest moment’ of his career in a recent interview.
After winning the Moto2 title in 2019, Marquez stepped up to the top level with the factory Honda squad. But he only raced under Alberto Puig for one shortened season before he was demoted to LCR.
Closely matched with teammate Takaaki Nakagami, he finished 16th and 17th in his two years with the team. As Nadia Padovani revealed, Marquez was close to dropping off the MotoGP grid before Gresini made him an offer.
Has Alex Marquez already hit his ceiling in MotoGP?
Alex Marquez recalls ‘the hardest moment’ of his MotoGP career
Speaking to Motosprint, Marquez, who suffered 10 DNFs in those seasons and gained a reputation as a crash-prone rider, recalled the dilemma he faced over his future in the premier-class.
Ultimately, he listened to the more optimistic part of his brain, and he was rewarded. He scored his first MotoGP podium on just his second start for new team Gresini in 2023 and won two Sprint races at Silverstone and Sepang.
Gresini’s rise, powered by their Ducati machinery, was so impressive that it tempted serial world champion Marc Marquez to join. If that put him back in his brother’s shadow, he escaped it for good in 2025.
Reflecting on 2022, Marquez said: “It was the hardest moment: part of me said, ‘You can’t do it,’ while the other part wanted to continue, and it prevailed; otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.
“The better half told me to give myself one last chance, on a competitive bike like Ducati and with a team like Gresini, to see if I was capable. The yes won, and that’s nice, because I like this life.”
‘On paper, yes’ – Alex Marquez asked if he can win a title
Later in the interview, Marquez was asked whether he is capable of completing the set after winning the Moto2 and Moto3 titles.
His answer was somewhat non-committal, even though he’s riding a top-of-the-range Ducati GP26 this season, a reward for his performances last year.
“It’s never enough, you can always do more,” he said. “On paper, yes, but then we’ll have to see what happens on the track. Philosophical answer? Exactly.”
Marquez was seen as a potential threat to his older sibling this year, but he made a poor start to the season in Thailand with a P11 in the Sprint and a DNF in the main Grand Prix.
Despite his emotional attachment to Gresini, Marquez is expected to join KTM in 2027, replacing the Ducati-bound Pedro Acosta.
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