Marc Marquez responds to “data” theory about Alex Marquez

Marc Marquez says that his relationship with his brother Alex Marquez is not changed despite their brewing MotoGP rivalry after they finished first and second for the third race in succession in the Argentina Sprint.

The Saturday race at Termas de Rio Hondo was a continuation of what was shown by the pair in Thailand, with Marc Marquez marginally better in the end than Alex Marquez, but on this occasion there were almost three seconds behind them to Francesco Bagnaia.

At present, they are proving to be the references in MotoGP, which ordinarily implies a growing rivalry between them, but their pre-existing relationship as siblings makes their on-track relationship as competitors unordinary.

TNT Sports reporter Natalie Quirk mentioned to Marc Marquez in his TV interview after the Sprint in Argentina that his brother, as a fellow Ducati rider, is able to “see your data”, but the Ducati Lenovo Team rider denied that the competition that has emerged between the two in the beginning of this season has changed their relationship at the track.

“I want the best for him, and I hope and I think that he wants the best for me,” Marquez said.

“Even this weekend, we are trying to share some opinions, to share some [things] about riding style always, but then about setup every rider is working with their team.

“In the end, I don’t like to say ‘rivalry’, but being competitive on the race track and being against your brother is something amazing.

“It will not change our relationship and I will try to help him, and he will beat me in more than one race this year.”

The Argentina Sprint was the hardest Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez has pushed his brother yet this year, staying within half-a-second for much of the 12 laps before falling to 0.9 seconds adrift at the end.

“He [Alex Marquez] was pushing,” Marc Marquez said.

“When I saw [on the pit board] that Alex was +0 seconds, +0.3 seconds, he was all the race super-close; I saw the lap time on the dashboard and we were riding in 1:37s, so I said that ‘If he attacks me, it means that he’s much faster’.

“So, I tried to keep going, tried to keep the consistency, but, honestly speaking, he is riding in a very good way and he will be a very tough opponent tomorrow – together with Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia], of course, who always on Sundays is very fast.”

Finally, Marquez added that he is hoping to make some setup improvements for Sunday’s race, when hotter conditions are expected.

“It looks like the track condition is improving, because every time there is more rubber and every time it’s faster, but it’s true that tomorrow looks warmer and it’s true that sometimes when it’s more warm it means less grip,” he said.

“Personally speaking, we need to work a bit on the setup, try to understand well what we need, there are two or three points where still I’m struggling a bit, but apart from that I’m happy.”