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 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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Marc Marquez finished top of the timesheets for the second time in MotoGP practice in Thailand ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.

The Spaniard formulated a lap record in Friday’s second practice session, but in this session was the sole rider to finish inside the 1.29s as the eight-time champion posted a 1.29.888s.

Pramac Ducati finished the practice session second and fourth, but the Italian rider Franco Morbidelli delivered the second spot. Jorge Martin secured fourth with the double reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia in the middle of the satellite Ducati duo.

Pedro Acosta finished in the best place of fifth in his weekend as the in-form Frenchman Fabio Quartararo accompanied the rookie.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and KTM’s Jack Miller sealed seventh and eighth place ahead of the VR46 duo Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Augusto Fernandez narrowly missed out on the top ten with a superb 11th place secured, ahead of 2020 champion Joan Mir and the second Gresini Ducati brother of Alex Marquez.

Enea Bastianini followed aboard his factory Ducati in 14th, and Aleix Espargaro’s torrid weekend continued with a lacklustre 15th place.

The LCR Honda duo of Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco ended their session in 17th and 18th, respectively, ahead of the surprise name of KTM’s Brad Binder.

The final four positions consisted of Luca Marini, Alex Rins and the Trackhouse Racing duo of Raul Fernandez and Lorenzo Savadori.

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Marc Marquez sets a blistering lap record pace to top the timesheets in Thailand’s second MotoGP practice session.

The Gresini Ducati rider produced a benchmark time of 1.291.165s to set a new record around the Thai circuit.

Jorge Martin bettered his best lap record time from last year. Still, he finished 0.110s adrift of his fellow countryman, with the factory Ducati duo of Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia behind by under a tenth of a second.

The first practice session saw all riders prepare for the main race on Sunday, as all riders selected the harder rear tyre due to tyre wear consumption from the circuit’s late braking zones.

However, a few notable riders chose the medium rears in the second practice. KTM’s Brad Binder, GasGas’ Pedro Acosta, and championship protagonists Bagnaia and Martin chose the softer tyre and were instantly competitive in the session’s early phases.

Lorenzo Savadori and Enea Bastianini crashed out earlier in the session, but both escaped unharmed.

Fabio Quartararo entered the fold at the midway point with his medium rear tyre choice before setting successively improved lap times as the Frenchman slotted his bike as high as second.

Multiple riders spent time at the top of the classification, as Aprilia, Yamaha, and KTM produced the fastest lap. By the end of the session, the top 19 riders were separated by just over a second.

It was nearly impossible to call who would end up in first place, but Marquez defeated the rest of the competition.

As Ducati occupied the top four scoring positions, the lead non-Ducati rider was Maverick Vinales aboard his Aprilia. Despite his team-mate struggling after his crash in the first practice session, Vinales secured fifth and a Q2 appearance.

Franco Morbidelli finished sixth in the final classification, with the rookie Pedro Acosta close behind.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi were separated by only 0.008s but both riders secured Q2 qualification by the skin of their teeth.

Johann Zarco continued Honda’s upward turn in form to book another Q2 position and round off the top ten places.

Despite leading earlier in the session, KTM’s Binder and Yamaha’s Quartararo marginally missed out. The former missed out brutally, as only 0.001s separated the Frenchman and South African.

Jack Miller delivered 13th place for KTM ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez, with the second LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami ending his session in 15th.

Fabio Di Giannantoio finished as the distant last Ducati rider in 16th ahead of his final race of the season due to opting for surgery.

Luca Marini finished in 17th for Repsol Honda ahead of the Spanish trio of Alex Rins, Joan Mir and Augusto Fernandez.

Lorenzo Savadori finished in second to last as he continued his stand-in duties for the injured Miguel Oliveira

Aleix Espargaro finished in dead last after choosing to withdraw from the session due to injuries sustained earlier on in the day.

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Gresini’s Marc Marquez says that his bad start at last weekend’s Australian MotoGP race was caused by “a mistake I couldn’t avoid”.

Marquez dropped to 13th in the first corner after his tear-off got stuck under the rear wheel of his Gresini machine, causing the tyre to spin up. 

The Spaniard recovered to sixth by the end of the first lap and then had the pace to take victory ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin.

Marquez explained the reason for the start mistake was due to a mosquito getting stuck on his visor. 

“You know, it was a mistake but a mistake I couldn’t avoid,” Marquez told TNT Sports’ Steve Day. 

“It’s not a rule, but normally we speak on safety sometimes with the riders to not take the tear off on the grid because it can get in your wheel, but also in the wheel of others or their box or something like this. 

“But this time I didn’t have the chance, because when I was putting the front device, it was a big [insect] with that kind of film on the visor. 

“I say ‘I cannot see well and I will arrive on the first corner and I will not have a good vision’, then I decide to remove it. 

“I thought with the wind it would go out but it goes on my rear tyre and that makes everything more difficult but also more interesting for the fans.” 

Marc Marquez: ‘I knew that Martin has the MotoGP championship to lose’

Marquez continued to say that he knew he could still win the Australian Grand Prix after Martin made an error on Lap 12. 

The Gresini rider explained that he had nothing to lose in his pursuit of victory, while the Pramac rider had everything to lose in this year’s title fight.

“When I was catching Bagnaia, I saw that Jorge was still half a second, one second in front.

“Then I said ‘Ok I try to overtake Pecco’ but he was braking super late and then I tried to find the way to overtake in a good way. 

“But then when we catch Jorge I say ‘Ok now we have a good possibility’.

“It’s true that I had some question marks because in the first laps we used the rear tyre to catch them, but on the last laps I say ok now I will try. 

“I knew that Jorge has something to lose more than me, so on that occasion, in that scenario I had a small advantage. 

“I wanted to go for the race, he goes for the championship and for him it was already a good result. So yeah, that gives me confidence.”

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Gresini’s Marc Marquez edged out championship leader Jorge Martin in a showdown Australian MotoGP victory at Phillip Island.

Marquez dropped down to seventh on the opening lap after a tear off saw him struggle on the start, but a supreme display saw him earn his third win of 2024.

Martin got a fantastic launch from pole position and was easily able to pull away from second placed Marco Bezzecchi on the first lap.

Marquez got another terrible start as the rear spun and dropped to seventh, but pulled an aggressive move on Enea Bastianini to put himself on an immediate road to recovery. 

Bezzecchi was defending from fellow VR46 academy riders Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli in the opening three laps and had the pace to hold onto second. 

The VR46 rider was eventually forced to yield the positions after serving his long lap penalty for his role in the Sprint crash between himself and Maverick Vinales. 

Bezzecchi rejoined the race momentarily, but crashed out at the long lap loop in the following lap to end a dismal weekend for the Italian. 

Marquez continued on his charge back to the front and breezed past Morbidelli on the main straight to move onto the podium.

The Gresini rider maintained the strong pace and set a new all time lap record of the Phillip Island circuit as he tried to chase after Bagnaia. 

Martin made a mistake while leading on lap 12 which allowed Bagnaia and Marquez into the fight for the victory.

Bagnaia managed to overtake Martin, but the Pramac rider immediately responded and allowed Marquez to follow him through into second. 

The factory Ducati didn’t have the pace to keep up with the leading pair, and Bagnaia was forced to withdraw from the fight against Martin and Marquez.

Marquez was still pressuring Martin to take the lead, and he capitalised on the pace advantage by moving into Turn 4. 

Martin responded by overtaking on the main straight, but a strong block pass from the eight-time world champion saw the Gresini rider take the lead once again to complete his recovery ride.

Marquez took the chequered flag just under a second clear of Martin in second. 

Bagnaia rounded out the podium but was clearly disappointed to finish 10 seconds off of the leading pair. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio had strong pace late on and charged past Enea Bastianini to take fourth ahead of the Ducati rider. 

Morbidelli ensured that there were six Ducatis in the top six positions as he beat the KTM of Brad Binder on the line. 

Vinales was eighth on the Aprilia, ahead of Fabio Quartararo in ninth as Raul Fernandez completed the top 10.

Home hero Jack Miller was 11th, with LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco trailing behind in 12th. Alex Rins took 13th for Yamaha ahead of Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini in 14th.

Alex Marquez rounded out the points finishers in 15th after recovering from running wide on the start. 

Aleix Espargaro finished the weekend in 16th, defeating Augusto Fernandez in their battle to the line.

Takaaki Nakagami was 18th for LCR Honda, while Bezzecchi rejoined the race after his crash and closed out the finishers in 19th. 

Joan Mir crashed on the penultimate lap, while Lorenzo Savadori did not complete the race due to pain from being struck by debris in the Sprint. 

Pedro Acosta withdrew after suffering from shoulder pain and did not take the start.

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Gresini’s Marc Marquez topped a chaotic MotoGP practice session at Phillip Island earlier today ahead of his younger brother Alex Marquez.

After a storm cancelled the first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, the timed practice got underway under blue skies, but a threat of rain remained.

The session was extended to 80 minutes, allowing riders to gather extra data ahead of Saturday’s qualifying and both races.

Marquez was quick out of the gates and immediately took risks as he produced another classic save on his way to setting an unbeaten time of 1:27.770.

There proved to be early drama for championship leader Jorge Martin, as he crashed on a warm up lap and was fortunate not to tag the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo. 

The session was soon red flagged due to a goose making its way onto the circuit as neither Martin nor Francesco Bagnaia had set a representative lap time. 

In the final flurry towards the end of practice, both championship challengers saw themselves improve enough to secure an automatic place in Q2. 

Gresini’s Alex Marquez appeared to be struggling despite the apparent pace of the GP23, but a stunning lap right at the death saw him leap up to second on the timing tower. 

The rain stayed away, but nobody was able to challenge the GP23 bikes out front, with both Marquez brothers looking imperious as they earned their first 1-2 in a MotoGP session.

VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi concluded a strong showing for the GP23s in third, just under a hundredth ahead of the title contenders Martin and Bagnaia.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales was the top non-Ducati rider with his sixth place, as Brad Binder trailed behind in seventh. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio ended the session in eighth ahead of compatriot Franco Morbidelli in ninth. 

Yamaha’s Alex Rins narrowly pipped teammate Quartararo to the final Q2 spot in 10th, with the Frenchman missing out by 0.015s.

Jack Miller was 12th ahead of Pedro Acosta in 13th, as both will have to progress through Q1 in qualifying.

Johann Zarco had another promising showing for LCR Honda but was only able to earn 14th while Augusto Fernandez was behind in 15th.

Enea Bastianini had a difficult session in Phillip Island and could only muster 16th and was the only Ducati not to make it directly into Q2. 

Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir was 17th as he finished the session in front of Aleix Espargaro in 18th.

The second factory Honda of Luca Marini was 19th with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami in 20th.

Trackhouse’s Lorenzo Savadori remains as a stand-in for the injured Miguel Oliveira and finished the session in 21st, while teammate Raul Fernandez admitted to feeling unwell and was 22nd. 

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Marc Marquez admits that this weekend’s MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix was “a boring but tactical race” despite earning his eighth podium of the 2024 season.

Marquez qualified down the order on Saturday due to a track limits violation in qualifying, but he was able to rescue another third place from a low grid position.

The Gresini rider conceded the race was mundane after he was forced to give up on catching leaders Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin to hold off Enea Bastianini.

“It was a boring but tactical race. Especially because when I was in that third place, Martin and Bagnaia already opened a gap,” Marquez told MotoGP.com.

“I was trying to find a way to reduce that gap but by then when I tried to attack a bit more I made a mistake in Turn 1 and then I gave up. 

“It was just time to control Bastianini because he was riding in a very good way. 

“I was a bit scared for those last laps of Bastianini that we are used to seeing but we controlled it in a good way. 

 “I was pushing a lot with the front tyre because the rear was finished and then I started to take a risk with the front.

“Then I said ‘ok I will try’ and even like this I saw even he was reducing the gap. 

“As I said I was a bit scared. The situation was not under control but I felt super good.” 

Marquez reveals ‘crucial’ improvement

Marquez’s weekend looked as if it could have been stronger than his pair of third places from the Sprint and main race.

The Gresini rider set a new lap record at the Motegi circuit, before it was deleted in controversial circumstances, and was forced to start both races from ninth on the grid.

The Spaniard acknowledges that it’s necessary to improve the practice and qualifying sessions over the weekend as it is costing the team better results. 

“Of course when you start at the front everything is different,” said Marquez.

“But when you start in ninth place, on the first lap we did well but not perfect because at Turn 10 Jorge went through on me. 

“Then I missed a bit of acceleration and Miller overtook us on Turn 11 and then I lost some time there. 

“But it’s ok, it’s like this. Our crucial point will be to improve the qualifying and practice as I said the last few races. 

“It looked like we could do it this race but unfortunately we were unlucky but it’s ok, there’s next race.” 

Marquez praises training mate Alonso after Moto3 title

Motegi also proved to be a celebratory weekend for Marquez, as his part-time training mate David Alonso took the Moto3 title at Motegi.

Marquez was one of the first to congratulate the Colombian superstar in the pitlane and has high hopes that he has seen a future MotoGP champion in the making.

“I love it. I’m in love with David, I like him especially because he has charisma and he has his feet on the ground. 

“He’s just working, he’s asking all the time what he can do better, he’s coming to me and I just try to give him some advice. 

“So he deserves it and now he needs to enjoy it, he’s a World Champion, a Moto3 World Champion, don’t put too much pressure on the kid. 

“Next year he will move to Moto2, still make mistakes because it’s normal but he needs time and let’s see. 

“I hope that he can be a great champion in the future.”

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Gresini’s Manuel Gonzalez earned a dramatic first Moto2 win over Ai Ogura thanks to a strategic masterclass in Motegi. 

In a restarted race due to rainy conditions, Gonzalez elected to remain with slick tyres, which allowed the Spanish rider a bizarre route to his first Grand Prix victory. 

Aspar’s Jake Dixon got away well from pole position as he led the field going into the first corner. 

It appeared as if it would be an Aspar 1-2 coming out of Turn 1, but Guevara was overly ambitious with his move on Van den Goorbergh and pushed both riders wide.  

Immediately after the race started, the rain started to come down significantly, and the marshals waved the red and white flag due to the wet conditions. 

The riders were clearly unhappy with the track and the red flag was thrown out before the first lap was completed. 

Race direction decided that the race would resume with 12 laps to be completed.

The rainy conditions caused uncertainty in the pit lane about whether it was damp enough to switch to the wet tyres. 

Most of the riders on the grid elected for the rain tyres, with the home hero Ai Ogura one of the exceptions as he headed out onto the second sighting lap on slicks.

On the restart, Dixon managed to get away well again from pole position, and this time it would be an Aspar 1-2 as Guevara learned from his mistake on the first try. 

It was the KTM Ajo of Celestino Vietti and the MarcVDS of Tony Arbolino who looked to have the early rhythm in the difficult conditions, and were able to move themselves up into the top five. 

Ogura’s gamble had him down in 14th after the first lap, but it was clear that his tyres were the best choice as the race progressed.

By the third lap, the local hero moved past Dixon for the race’s lead as his gamble quickly paid off.

The remaining slick tyre runners were able to slice through the field with ease, as the top six became the six riders who made the switch.

Manuel Gonzalez was the fastest rider on track and was able to close down the four second gap to Ogura out front. 

Gonzalez made his pace advantage count as he overtook the Japanese rider and was on course to cruise to a maiden Moto2 victory.

The Gresini rider saw out the race to take his first victory ahead of championship leader Ogura.

MarcVDS’ Filip Salac rounded out the podium in third after beating Jeremy Alcoba in the podium fight.

Zonta Van den Goorbergh recovered after a difficult restart to take fifth on the slick tyres, with Xavi Artigas completing a slick tyre lock-out of the top six

Vietti crossed the line as the best of the slick tyre runners in seventh, some 53 seconds behind Gonzalez 

Diogo Moreira took eighth in the difficult conditions ahead of Alonso Lopez in ninth, as Guevara eventually crossed the line in 10th. 

Arbolino took 11th after fighting off SpeedUp’s Fermin Aldeguer and polesitter Dixon, who came home in 12th and 13th respectively.

Sergio Garcia added two points to his tally as he took 14th on the line, while Darryn Binder earned the final points position in 15th.

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