MotoGP: Why we shouldn’t be to quick to judge Alex Marquez

On the 14th November 2019 Jorge Lorenzo held an “exceptional” press conference, the Repsol Honda rider announced his retirement from MotoGP leaving his 2 year deal with HRC 12 months early.

Immediately this sparked speculation around the paddock of who the potential replacement could be a potential replacement could be with Johann Zarco, who impressed on the LCR Honda at the final 3 rounds being shortlisted to take the vacant seat.

Other rumors linked LCR riders Cal Crutchlow and Taka Nakagami also being rumored to step up to the Repsol Honda team leaving Zarco the vacant seat.

However, as we now know it was Marc Marquez’s younger brother and Moto2 World Champion Alex Marquez who took the now vacant seat, leading to wild speculation about why Alex was given the ride, so in this article, I look at all the factors as to why Alex Marquez got the ride.

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He’s a 2-time world champion

Alex Marquez like brother Marc has lightweight World Championship (Moto3) and a Moto2 World Championship, all be it took Alex a lot longer than Marc to achieve the Moto2 World Championship, however not many riders can boast that they have a Moto3 and Moto2 world titles, riders such as Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir, Alex Rins and Johann Zarco, in fact in the MotoGP class it’s only Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have done so in the current MotoGP class so it’s a pretty elite club.

“He’s not the brother of… he is Alex Marquez”

In the post-Malaysian Grand Prix interview with Simon Crafer (motogp.com) Marc Marquez said “He is not the brother of… He is Alex Marquez, he is the Moto2 World Champion” this comment for me echoed a thousand words, people will always compare Alex to Marc, much like people did with Ralph and Michael Schumacher, but we have to recognize Alex Marquez’s achievements for what they are, he’s had success in his career that other riders can only dream of. What we have to remember is that Marc Marquez is once in a generation phenomenon, much like Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi, just because Marc is as brilliant and spectacular as he is this does not make Alex (or any other rider) less deserved to be on the grid.

Testing, Testing, Testing

In testing Alex although he hasn’t set the world on fire, he has made improvements every session so far, in Valencia day one he managed a 1:32.873 on day two despite a crash at turn 10 he still improved to a 1:32.235, at Jerez again he showed improvement from day one to day two, its also worth mentioning although he rode the Repsol Honda after winning the Moto3 World Championship in 2014 it wasn’t in anger, it was a well-done gift from HRC, he has tested in anger last year in Jerez he rode the Marc VDS Honda RCV213V replacing the then injured Franco Morbidelli for an in-season two day test.

Shared Data

It’s no secret that the Honda riders data share, Taka Nakagami, and Cal Crutchlow are no slouches, Crutchlow being the only other Honda winner in the previous two seasons next to Marc Marquez, and of course, he will have access to his brothers’ data, which Crutchlow and Lorenzo has described as “unbelievable” , Alex has stated that Marc said he won’t show him to much which to me proves the caliber of rider Alex is, who would Marc not help him unless he saw him as a genuine threat whether it be in the present or the future?

All in all, I think Honda has made a justified choice, I don’t think we will ever know how much influence his brother had in the decision but either way, the decision has been made and the Moto2 World Champion has one hell of an opportunity.