Alex Marquez reveals moment he knew Marc Marquez was “too fast” in Thai MotoGP Sprint

Alex Marquez says it took him five corners of the Thai MotoGP Sprint to work out that Marc Marquez was “too fast for us”.

Finishing 1-2 in the Sprint meant the Marquez brothers made history as the first siblings to hold the top-two positions in the MotoGP World Championship.

For Alex Marquez, the Sprint was a race of precision, as he managed a gap to one factory Ducati ahead, and another behind, having defended his second place from Francesco Bagnaia at the start of the race.

“The key of every Sprint, but especially when it’s hot, is the start and the first laps,” Marquez said after the Sprint.

“I was able to make a good start but then Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] attacked me, but in turn one I had a really good drive. I said ‘Okay, wait, relax, and try to make a good move there,’ and I did it.

“From corner five I realised that Marc [Marquez] was a little bit too fast for us, so I just tried to go with him [for as long as I could].

“I was close, I was five tenths, four tenths [behind] for many laps, I was making a good rhythm; but later on, being there, you start to have problems with the front tyre and I just see the gap that I had with Pecco and I just tried to manage the gap that I had to the end to not make any mistakes.

“I did a small mistake in turn four that I went on the blue, but I came back, so just that. But for the rest it was a standard race for us.”

The Gresini Racing rider added that spending the Sprint directly behind his brother allowed him to catch some different things that he was doing.

“I took many lines from him, especially to manage the tyres he was making different lines and I was able to see some [of them],” he said.

“So, now I will try to analyse that to make another step.

“The race conditions were really hard, the bike was moving much more than yesterday – front, rear – so we need also to maybe adjust something to be more complete tomorrow.”

Marquez said he expects a tougher time to keep Bagnaia behind in Sunday’s full-length race.

“I think today our maximum was to be second, so I think tomorrow our maximum is the same,” he said.

“But I know that Pecco is really strong in the long races and we know it from last year. I think he has something more than us in the long race, maybe [only] one tenth but he has something more.

“So, it will be interesting to see and learn something from them that they are pushing so hard to the limit and try to be there and try to be on the podium.”

Finally, he added that the race tomorrow will be “Slower for sure, because we have 13 laps more, but it will be a really similar race.

“We need to manage the race from the beginning to the end, try to not overheat the tyres, and try to arrive because with this heat that we have here it’s unbelievable.”