Alex Marquez reveals kind (and brutal) praise from Marc Marquez after sprint win
The younger of the Marquez brothers won a premier class race for the first time on Saturday at the British MotoGP.
Even starker than the sight of the Gresini Ducati rider claiming glory while his illustrious brother languished in 18th, was Marc’s post-race reaction.
“He told me: 'Today you went very fast, you bastard’”, Alex was quoted by Marca.
“But I was trying to push as hard as he has done so many times.
"I know that he has suffered a lot during the race, but I saw that he was very happy for me.
"The team did a great job throughout the season. We were a bit unlucky in this first half, but it's the best way to start the second half.”
The Repsol Honda rider’s reaction to his younger brother’s first taste of MotoGP success was: “Of course I'm very happy with Alex. Last year he was very close to being out of MotoGP, and this year he's showing he has the potential.
“On wet conditions he's super fast, in dry conditions also he's consistently in the top 10, top 8, and now this will give to him a really good motivation and very good confidence.
“Already in the last weeks we trained together and he was very fast and very convinced, so now the next step is to try to be top 5, top 6 in dry conditions to make another step in the second part of the season.”
On Sunday, the Marquez brothers did not have much to celebrate. Both retired early, Alex due to a technical problem and Marc after contact with Enea Bastianini.
But 2023 now represents the first MotoGP season where Alex has enjoyed better results than Marc.
Even with Marc absent for part of last season, he finished 13th, four places ahead of Alex who was struggling with his LCR Honda.
But the switch to Ducati has reinvigorated the younger sibling who is now in the unusual position of making his esteemed brother jealous.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
