Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez crashed out of last weekend’s German GP from second place, blowing what would have been just his second Grand Prix podium of the season.
Marquez had finished second in the Sprint, impressively trailing his older brother and renowned ‘king of the ring’ Marc by less than four tenths.
He was on course to repeat that result on Sunday and bag 20 points until lap nine, when he lost the front at the final corner.
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Alex Marquez doesn’t have the mentality of a MotoGP champion
Given the costly nature of the mistake, it was a surprise to see Marquez smiling and laughing in his interview with TNT Sports after the session.
This was his third weekend back after his injury absence, so he was ‘super happy’ with his performance. But that in itself proves why he won’t be a MotoGP world champion.
It’s a question of mentality rather than talent. The very best riders would be beating themselves up over such a mistake, fully fit or otherwise, but Marquez doesn’t quite hold himself to that kind of standard.
“Small mistake, but the result is the same!” the 2019 Moto2 champion said. “I was able to ride in a really good way for those laps. [I was] maybe too confident from the result I got yesterday. I was feeling really good, trying not to force the bike too much.
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“Today, the grip level overall was not really, really good. It was quite easy to make a mistake, and unfortunately, at that point, I was a little bit too optimistic.
“But anyway, painful to see that livery on the gravel, the Telefonica Movistar livery! I’m super happy with that weekend. We cannot forget that we’re coming from a really difficult moment for me.
“It’s the first weekend that I did in a normal way, not missing any sessions, and I was able to [ride at] a really good level.”
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Finishing second in last year’s world championship behind his brother was a fine achievement, and an outcome very few expected before the season began. But one never got the sense that he believed in his own title credentials.
Marquez looks like a rider who’s content to compete for regular podiums and score occasional victories. Many on the grid would be the same if given the machinery.
But there are only a handful of riders who can beat Marquez Sr, fair and square, on their day. Alex is one of them, along with the likes of Pedro Acosta, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo.
If those riders were given equal machinery to the seven-time MotoGP champion, none would accept second place at the start of the season. But even after an upgrade to factory-spec equipment, Alex Marquez said he would be happy repeating 2025 and finishing as the runner-up.
The 2027 KTM signing has already had a fine career in the premier class and would retire happy if he had to hang up his helmet tomorrow. But that is precisely the problem.
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