Alex Marquez has hit back at claims he has “too much respect” for elder brother Marc Marquez following Sunday’s MotoGP race in Argentina.

The Gresini rider led most of Sunday’s grand prix but was overtaken with four laps to go, eventually finishing 1.362s behind the factory Ducati rider.

After the race, the younger Marquez was asked if he needs to “break the respect” he has for his brother to beat him, which the Spaniard found “disrespectful.” 

“I’ve had this question many times; ‘when will you lose the respect for Marc [Marquez]’ or ‘you respect too much Marc’,” said Marquez via GPOne.

“For me, this question is disrespectful to me. I’m a rider. I give my 100% always, I try to push for my team, for my sponsors. 

“I know that it’s my brother and I will have an extra respect when I overtake him.

“I’m the first one that wants to beat him and I want to win, but I’m more realistic than everybody because I know how Marc is. 

“I know his strong points and I don’t have any problem saying about them. Maybe you will not say directly what your rival is doing really good, but it’s my brother.

“I don’t have any problem saying it, and I don’t have any problem with accepting if he’s better than me in some points.

“So I will try to learn. I will try to give like always my 100%, but stop thinking I have too much respect for Marc.  We saw it today. We fight each other. He was faster than me and I gave my 100%.

“So I’m happy with second. I know that he is better than me in some areas and I will try to improve for the future.”

Marquez: ‘we need to improve in order to win’

Marquez came close to winning his first Grand Prix race but had to settle for a fourth-consecutive second place in races. 

The Cervera native admitted the elder Marquez can push more in the later stages of the race, and suggested this is an area he is seeking to improve. 

“I tried to push from the beginning, I did a good start, Pecco [Bagnaia] attacked me in turn 3 but I was able to come back to second,” Marquez said.

“I was feeling really good, I had a lot of doubts before the race about the tyre choice, but in the end I decided to be like Marc and Pecco with the medium rear.

“Later, when Marc did a small mistake at turn one I said, ‘OK, I go for it’. I tried to put a nice pace and was able to make a gap to the second group.”

“When he attacked me at Turn 5 I said, ‘OK, time to try’,” he added. 

“So I gave my 100%. I did a ‘38.3 but he was able to make ‘38.2. I was really on the limit. Nearly crashing all the corners.

“I tried to fight with him and to be there. But he’s able to be more on the limit in the last part of the race. So we need to improve there.

“But I’m super happy about all the weekend.”

Marquez: ‘I’m at my strongest in MotoGP right now’ 

The younger Marquez brother has never finished higher than eighth in a MotoGP World Championship season but currently sits second in the standings after a strong start to 2025. 

The Gresini rider confirmed he feels he is riding the best he ever has in the premier class. 

“It’s the moment where I feel at my strongest in MotoGP,” Marquez said.

“This bike suits me in a really good way with the riding style. So I’m just enjoying being on the bike. 

“I’m playing with the bike and it’s something really great. Just we need to keep going like that.

“The team are doing a super job, also the support from Ducati. We need to understand a few things from Marc, but here we were closer and it’s super nice to fight with your brother for a MotoGP victory.”

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Alex Marquez set the pace to top the final practice MotoGP session at the Argentine Grand Prix ahead of brother Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati.

The Gresini rider ended the session with a time of 1:37.795, half a second shy of the lap record set by his brother on the factory Ducati yesterday afternoon. 

The elder Marquez was 0.085s behind the Gresini rider in second as he continued his momentum around the Termas circuit. 

Johann Zarco remained the fastest Honda rider and finished practice in third place, just a tenth behind the Marquez brothers. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth for VR46 while KTM’s Pedro Acosta ensured three different manufacturers were inside the top five. 

Rookie Fermin Aldeguer benefitted from a slipstream from Ducati’s Marquez to take sixth place in practice, with Francesco Bagnaia down in seventh. 

Marco Bezzecchi was eighth for Aprilia, setting an identical lap time to Pramac’s Jack Miller in ninth. 

Fabio Quartararo rounded out the top ten in the final practice session before qualifying for the factory Yamaha outlet.

Joan Mir confirmed Honda’s improvements in 11th ahead of Franco Morbidelli who took 12th despite a crash early in the session.

Alex Rins was 13th, just over six tenths off Marquez’s leading lap time, while Luca Marini earned 14th for Honda.

Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura was 15th, 0.819s away from the best time as Miguel Oliveira was 16th. 

Brad Binder was a lowly 17th for KTM, just under a tenth clear of the second Trackhouse of Raul Fernandez. 

The Tech3 KTM duo finished 19th and 20th, with Maverick Vinales leading Enea Bastianini over the line. 

LCR Honda’s Somkiat Chantra was 21st as Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori completed the standings in 22nd.

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Gresini rider Alex Marquez has described the Thai MotoGP weekend as “super special” after securing a treble of 1-2 finishes with brother Marc Marquez.

The pair have become the first set of brothers to hold the top-two positions in the MotoGP championship standings after dominating the weekend at the Chang International Circuit.

Despite qualifying and finishing second in the Sprint, Marquez admitted he didn’t expect to finish ahead of Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia in Sunday’s grand prix.

“I’m super, super happy all weekend overall,” Marquez told TNT Sports after the race.

“I said yesterday Sunday is still ahead of us so it will be an important day, and we did it. 1-2, 1-2 which is something amazing, a super special weekend for all the family.

“I thought before the start of the race that Marc [Marquez] for sure had something more than me, but Pecco [Bagnaia] too. For that reason, I tried to attack, to put some metres there in the first lap and try to push.

“Maybe I use a little bit too much energy there, but when I was leading for many many laps I was using all my energy , not my one but the tyre’s, and I got to the end on the limit.

“These are the races that give you the experience of MotoGP, leading and having the pace so I’m super happy.”  

Alex Marquez: ‘not possible’ to beat Marc in Thai GP

Marquez led over half of the season opening grand prix after overtaking Marc Marquez on lap seven, but was unable to see it through to the chequered flag.

It was later revealed that the factory Ducati rider elected to drop behind his brother to avoid a tyre pressure penalty.

The Gresini rider admitted he thought he had an opportunity to take his first career win, but realised that Marquez was saving energy.

“I was just trying not to override, trying not to make mistakes, just trying to ride the bike. This was my main objective, not make a mistake, try to be smooth in every corner.

“In one moment I thought I may have the opportunity to win because I thought Marc maybe was struggling with the front tyre, but he saved it.

“When he overtook me after two corners I realised it wasn’t possible, but I was able to keep Pecco behind so I’m happy for that.” 

Despite his progression over the weekend, the Gresini rider still believes he is “one step” behind the factory Ducati duo but hopes he can get a win later in the campaign.

“If we have the opportunity I will try for sure like I did today, but we are still one step back compared to Marc and Pecco,” Marquez confirmed.

“They are more consistent than us so the experience from today will be the key to us for the future.

“We will try to keep working and we can do great things for the season.”

READ MORE – Marc Marquez: Thai MotoGP weekend ‘the best of my life’

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Alex Marquez pulled off a stunning last lap in the dying seconds to top the MotoGP time tracker in the second Friday practice session in Thailand.

Despite dominating for the vast majority of the session, Marc Marquez relinquished the top spot right at the end.

Marquez’s quickest lap time of 1.29.020s bettered his older brother’s posting by 0.052s.

It was an all Spanish top three as KTMs Pedro Acosta bounced back from a difficult first session to round off the top three.

Marco Bezzecchi displayed his competitive edge once more on the Aprilia, despite a late crash while lapping quickest.

Bezzecchi’s crash compromised particular runs in the closing 90 seconds due to the issuing of yellow flags, namely Francesco Bagnaia’s lap.

Despite yellow flags being taken away in that part of the track, Bagnaia couldn’t have posted a better run to send himself to Q2 on Saturday due to multiple riders on the track on the racing line. He finished the session in 13th.

Franco Morbidelli was completely oblivious to see that his fellow VR46 Academy graduate was on a hot lap, meaning the two-time MotoGP champion will have it all to do on Saturday.

Morbidelli himself slotted his VR46 Ducati into Q2 thanks to a fifth place finish overall, joining Joan Mir who finished sixth to deliver some optimism in the Honda garage

Both Trackhouse riders of Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura finished seventh and ninth, respectively, with Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo ending the session between the Aprilias.

After leading the session for a very brief moment, Johann Zarco finished the session in tenth place for LCR Honda.

KTMs next nearest challengers saw Maverick Vinales and Brad Binder finish just outside the top ten, but the improvements from the first practice is evident to see.

Jack Miller produced a respectable 14th place for Pramac Yamaha, but finished only 0.726s off the leaders.

Fabio Di Giannantonio improved his feeling on the Ducati from the opening practice to finish 15th in the second session.

Luca Marini and Alex Rins salvaged 16th and 17th place for their respective Japanese marque, despite the promising Q2 places earnt by their teammates.

Miguel Oliveira finished 18th quickest and the last rider to finish under a second radius behind the table topping Marquez brothers.

Enea Bastianini continued to adapt to his KTM as he finished in the lower echelons once again, but defeated debutants Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra.

Lorenzo Savadori finished the session in last for Aprilia as the test rider is filling in for defending MotoGP Jorge Martin, who is out injured.

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Alex Marquez suggested that the feeling of his new GP24 Ducati was like the “sister” bike to the previous GP22 MotoGP bike.

Gresini remained one of Ducati’s core satellite teams in 2025, and Marquez entered his third year with the team riding the Bologna bike that had delivered 16 Grand Prix wins in 2024.

The Spaniard put on an impressive display across the three days of the Sepang pre-season test, finishing in the top three each day and ending the final day on top.

The 28-year-old rated his confidence as “nine” out of ten aboard his new bike, indicating that the GP24 feels more natural for him to ride.

“The first two test days had already been positive, but this one [Friday] was even better,” he stated to GPOne.

“In general, we did a good job, apart from the fast lap, which is always important because you feel the bike responding when you ask it for the maximum.

“The most important thing is the pace, and the sprint simulation went very well.

“And everything looks good, but we’re in Sepang, and I love this circuit. We have to stay calm, and go to Thailand to see where we’re at.

“I struggled a lot last year with the GP23 but when you’re struggling, you learn more,” he explained.

“What I learned will help me progress this year. With the Ducati 2023, from zero to ten, my confidence was seven. With [the GP24] this bike, it’s nine.

“It’s definitely the best I’ve ridden, although the GP22 was very good. It feels like its sister.

Marquez pinpoints superior strengths of GP24 compared to GP23

The Spaniard pinpointed the superior strengths of the GP24 when asked about the differences compared to his bike from last year.”

“Especially on corner-entry is where I feel more comfortable,” he added. (Via Crash.net)

“With the 23, I was not able to perform on braking point, and especially I had a lot of weight on the front, pushing from the rear.

“This bike is more born for this rear tyre, this bike is done for this rear tyre and it’s something easier to go into the corner and feel the balance of the bike.

“[With the ride height device] in some accelerations you feel a little bit more, you can put a little bit more of torque because you have a little bit less front wheelie.

“In some tracks, especially Thailand Turn 3 it will be a good boost. But, if all that you can win is 0.003s is always welcome.”

READ MORE – 2025 Sepang MotoGP test rundown

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Gresini Racing has revealed its livery for the 2025 MotoGP season at the Imola circuit in Italy on Saturday.

The Ducati satellite team became the third outfit to present its livery after Aprilia and Trackhouse.

At the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, team owner Nadia Padovani helped present the 2025 challenger.

Gresini enters its fourth campaign as a Ducati satellite, as Alex Marquez returns for a third season with rookie Fermin Aldeguer alongside him.

Alderguer finished fifth last year in the Moto2 standings and steps up to the pinnacle of motorcycle racing as the youngest rider on the grid.

The 19-year-old will race with the number 54 for his first season in the category.

The Ducati association has brought a combination of Gresini bright blue with the traditional red of the Bologna-based manufacturer since 2022.

But the 2025 contender showcased sky blue with silver and black colours with less red colours on the new bike.

With a stylish and clean design that is sure to stand out on track, the Italian team will look to improve on its third-place finish in the team standings from the previous campaign.

Having run Aprilia’s factory entry from 2015 to 2021, Gresini will also compete in its fourth season since returning to being an independent outfit.

Marquez struggled in the previous season, achieving just one podium in 20 races on his way to finishing eighth in the standings.

A slight concern considering Gresini has won a Grand Prix every season since its partnership with Ducati; first with Enea Bastianini, then Fabio Di Giannantonio and latterly Marc Marquez in 2024.

However, a first win for Marquez or Aldeguer in 2025 will continue that much-loved trend for the Faenza-based outfit.

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