Marco Bezzecchi
David Alonso can call Marc Marquez his mentor, but the Moto2 rider also tries to take “several things” from Francesco Bagnaia and can see a big positive with Pedro Acosta.
Marquez has served as a mentor and close adviser for Alonso for a while, with the pair often also training together. Alonso has “reminded” Marquez of himself, as well, as the latter spots similarities between their racing styles that even took the former to a dominant Moto3 title.
Alonso became the first Colombian to win the Moto3 title in 2024, when he secured 14 wins in 20 races. The 20-year-old also became the first Colombian to win a Moto2 race in 2025 by taking his debut intermediate class victory as a rookie at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Marquez also secured a dominant lightweight class title in 2010 with 10 wins from 17 races, before he won the 2012 Moto2 title and also won the MotoGP title as a rookie in 2013. The path to success was slower for Bagnaia, who only won his first world title in Moto2 in 2018.
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David Alonso would like to have Marc Marquez’s ‘hunger’ and Francesco Bagnaia’s ‘coolness’
Bagnaia lifted back-to-back MotoGP titles in 2022 and 2023 amid a run of four successive title fights, before Marquez won the 2025 crown in his first year at Ducati for the Spaniard’s seventh championship and first title since 2019. Acosta has yet to fight for the MotoGP title.
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Bagnaia has also shown that he has a very different approach to Marquez and Acosta, who won the 2021 Moto3 title as a rookie and then the 2023 Moto2 crown. But Alonso can see “several” things he can learn from Bagnaia, as well as key traits from Marquez and Acosta.
Alonso told Mundo Deportivo: “From Marquez, his constant hunger to win. From Pedro, I’d take his mentality, the way he approaches races. He doesn’t go there to put on a show, but to compete, and that’s it. From Pecco, his coolness. I try to take several things from him.”
“Marquez has always been my idol,” Alonso added. “I try to listen to him as much as I can, and yes, I’m grateful that he’s there to give me advice. I still get just as excited about talking to him as I did when I was a kid.
“In the end, he gives you advice that could be about anything. But the thing is, whatever you’re going through, he’s already been through it.
“He can help you a lot in that sense, because ultimately you’re going through what he’s already been through, and he can tell you about it from his own personal experiences.”
Marquez and Acosta have a more similar approach to racing compared to Bagnaia, who has often preferred to be smooth and precise compared to the Spanish stars’ aggression that is also a part of Alonso’s style. So, it makes sense for Alonso to try to learn from Bagnaia, too.
Alonso will no doubt hope to use what he can learn from Acosta, Bagnaia and Marquez next year when he is expected to move up to MotoGP. With the start of the 850cc regulations on the horizon, a clutch of MotoGP teams including Ducati and Yamaha held talks with Alonso.
It is expected that Alonso will debut in MotoGP with Honda in 2027, as the Japanese brand were prepared to give him factory rider status. But while it has been suggested that Alonso will debut in MotoGP for Honda’s factory team, it is said that he might join a satellite team.
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