– The San Marino Grand Prix last Sunday in Misano was won by Marc Marquez, with the seven-time and reigning MotoGP world champion taking the championship lead for the first time this year. His younger brother Alex Marquez finished in second place with less than a second behind.
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For the Marquez brothers, who have been competing together in the premier class of the motorcycle world championship since 2020, it was the ninth time counted only in Grands Prix that they stood together on the podium. Including sprints, it was even the 22nd time they finished together in the top 3.
For the first time, the Marquez brothers achieved this at the 2024 German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. At that time, they were teammates at Gresini-Ducati and finished in P2 (Marc) and P3 (Alex). Their first double victory, i.e., P1 and P2, was achieved at the 2025 season opener in Buriram (Thailand) in the sprint and repeated the next day in the Grand Prix.
The Marquez brothers have finished together in P1 and P2 six times in Grands Prix and, including sprints, a total of 19 times. In most cases, Marc was the one who prevailed in the brotherly duel, but not always. In the 2025 Silverstone sprint, Alex was second, Marc third. And in Barcelona 2025, Alex won both the sprint and the Grand Prix ahead of Marc, who finished second twice that weekend.
Will the double successes for the Marquez brothers eventually become a habit rather than something special? “Well, the first one back then in Thailand was the best, simply incredible,” says Marc Marquez after the recent Marquez double last Sunday in Misano. Alex agrees: “As Marc already said, the first one was something very special.”
That it worked again now makes Marc especially happy for his younger brother. “Alex deserved that after his injury in Catalonia,” he refers to the severe crash in this year’s Barcelona race. At that time, Alex Marquez had no chance to avoid Pedro Acosta’s suddenly slowed KTM, crashed into the rear and then into the wall, and was very lucky to escape the horror crash relatively unscathed given the circumstances.
For this reason, second place in Misano also has a special meaning for Alex, as he himself says: “This double success here means a lot to us. For Marc, because with this win he made an important step in the world championship. And for me, because I made it back to the podium for the first time since the Barcelona crash.”
Alex Marquez secured second place in Misano on his Gresini-Ducati in retro design in memory of Marco Simoncelli. It was not an easy task. After two crashes in the Q2 segment of qualifying, he had to fight his way forward from ninth on the grid. That he was less than a second behind his winning brother Marc after 27 laps fills the younger Marquez with great satisfaction.
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“I pushed like crazy. I really wanted to get this podium place because this Grand Prix was very important for Gresini in these colors. On top of that, it was my last race in Italy that I contested for Gresini. So it was emotional in this respect as well,” says Alex Marquez.
“I gave 100 percent and have to say it was a bit unexpected. I didn’t expect second place. Sure, we were also lucky that others crashed (Marco Bezzecchi leading; editor’s note), but it was still a strong race from us until the end,” emphasizes the younger Marquez brother.
Immediately after Marc’s victory, Alex noted on Sunday that his older brother “was not riding with full risk” and “was playing a bit.” Did Alex at any point in the race feel that he might even be able to overtake and outdo Marc?
“Yes, but when I attacked, that was exactly the moment when he pushed one last time. And when I had to let go a bit, he could relax again. He was playing a bit. I think he probably had a tenth of a second more leeway than I did and could thus control the gap.”
In the 2027 MotoGP season, the Marquez brothers will both race for a pure factory team. Marc has extended his contract with the Ducati factory team, which has been running since 2025, by two years until the end of 2028. Alex is moving from the factory-supported Ducati satellite team Gresini to the KTM factory team for two years.
For Alex Marquez, KTM will be the second factory team of his MotoGP career. In 2020, his rookie season, he was teammate to his brother in the Honda factory team, although Marc only started at the season opener due to his serious Jerez accident.
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