Marc Marquez makes big MotoGP title battle claim: ‘Alex Marquez is my main opponent’
Factory Ducati rider reckons his brother, not his team-mate, is his strongest MotoGP title threat
Marc Marquez has boldly claimed Alex Marquez is “my main opponent” in the 2025 MotoGP title battle, after narrowly beating him at the Argentina Grand Prix.
Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez completed his second pole/sprint/grand prix sweep of the season this weekend in Argentina, but was pushed hard by his younger brother Alex Marquez throughout.
Alex Marquez missed out victory in the sprint by just under a second, while he led for much of the grand prix before ultimately ending the race 1.3s adrift at the chequered flag.
However, the Gresini Ducati rider’s pace pushed Marc Marquez into an early mistake on lap four that saw him cede the lead and also forced him into several other errors later on in the race.
Marc Marquez leads the championship by 16 points over his brother, with his expected nearest challenger Pecco Bagnaia 31 points adrift in third after finishing 5.536s back in fourth on Sunday in Argentina.
It marks Bagnaia’s first grand prix off the podium since the Emilia Romagna GP.
Asked after the race if older brothers are meant to go easy on their younger siblings, Marc Marquez replied: “Not always. When you pass 20 years old, 22, then it’s equal!
“But Alex today I’m very impressed about his riding style. He was super smooth.
“And I know when he is super convinced he is able to win a world championship, like he did in Moto3, in Moto2.
“So, at the end he is the main opponent for the championship.”
Marc Marquez thought about letting Alex Marquez win
Marc Marquez took the holeshot from pole and led the first three laps, before running wide at the start of the fourth at Turn 1 and letting Alex Marquez through.
The factory Ducati rider would eventually get back into the lead on lap 21 of 25, but admits at one stage while riding behind his brother he though about conceding defeat.
“Today I’m impressed about my brother, about Alex,” he added.
“In one part of the race I was thinking to finish second because he was riding super smooth, super good, always keeping the corner speed.
“I mean his tyre was not smoking. I said ‘ok, this guy today has another level’.
“Then in the end I survived. I took a risk, as you saw, I took a lot of risks - maybe too much in some points of the race.
“But happy to go out with 37 points again and continue with a very good atmosphere inside the garage, because the Ducati Lenovo team did an amazing job. But also inside the family.”
Marc Marquez also revealed that he shared his strategy for the race with his younger brother, with the latter following this even while leading.
“Today it was not the plan to be behind Alex,” he added.
“The plan was to try to lead the race all the race.
“Even before the race, one of the points we have between us is we are very honest and I said to him ‘I will try to lead the race, and if you are behind stay there and on lap 12, 14 I will give my attack’.
“And he said ‘Ok, I will do the same’. And in fact, he was leading the race and in those laps 12, 14 he go into the 1m38-lows and he did the same strategy.
“The most important thing is we are very honest between us. He will win, some races, more than one. So, I will be very happy. And if I’m winning I’m happy too.”
