Why Marc Marquez thinks Alex’s frontrunning pace is “no longer a surprise”

Marc Marquez said the Thailand Grand Prix practice session will not be the final time his younger brother Alex will beat him in an outing during the 2025 MotoGP season.

The six-time MotoGP champion made those comments after the Gresini rider pipped him to the top spot in the hour-long session at Buriram by 0.052s during the season-opening weekend.

For Marc, results from Friday practice serve as confirmation that the pace Alex showed in testing is real and he will be a genuine contender for podiums and even victories in 2025.

Alex Marquez has been rapid from the first day he jumped on last year’s championship-winning GP24 bike in November’s Barcelona test.

He set the pace at the Catalan Grand Prix venue and also opened 2025 pre-season testing at Sepang in February with the fastest time.

Marc Marquez moved the goalposts during two days of testing at Buriram earlier this month, but Alex Marquez closely shaded him in second and looked strong overall.

“Of course if somebody beats you, you are never happy, but if it’s your brother, it’s okay,” quipped Marc Marquez following practice.

“I’m happy for him. He is riding super good, already in pre-season he was riding in a very good way.

“It won’t be the last time he will beat me this year. He’s fast and I expect him to fight for the podiums – and why not also for some victories. It will be super nice.

“I said the biggest surprise of the pre-season was my brother. But it’s not anymore a surprise because he was fast in Catalunya, he was fast in Malaysia.

“Okay, you can say these are circuits where he is riding well [at], but he was fast here [at Buriram in testing], he was fast again today, so it’s not a surprise anymore.”

Alex Marquez was already showing promising signs during his second season at Ducati in 2024, with a podium at Sachsenring being the highlight of a campaign in which he finished a career-best eighth in the standings.

A new two-year deal with Gresini, where he has rebuilt his career after a bruising stint with Honda, has only instilled further confidence in him.

The final piece of the puzzle was the switch to the GP24, which suits the younger Marquez more than previous generations of the Desmosedicis.

The 28-year-old shared an interesting trait about the bike that guided Pramac’s Jorge Martin to the 2024 title.

“It’s a bike that when you are pushing more and more, it’s better and better,” he said. “When you are slow you have more problems, when you are faster, it looks like it is a bike that gives you more and more confidence. This is something super great.”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The fact that Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio are now on a virtually similar bike to Alex Marquez has taken away another variable from the equation.

It follows a 2024 season in which Ducati made a huge step with the GP24, leaving GP23 riders like Alex Marquez at a huge disadvantage.

However, the Gresini rider knows that there are still some areas where he is lagging behind his elder brother, including long-run pace.

Marc Marquez laid out an ominous warning with his race simulation in the Buriram test, and although Alex’s own long run was impacted by issues, he still wasn’t lapping at the same pace as the six-time MotoGP champion.

Alex Marquez is now aiming to qualify on the front row on Saturday to maximise his chances for the sprint and the opening grand prix of the season.

“I have the confidence that when I put all the things together [it will work well],” he said.

“We have the speed, we need the consistency. We need to improve the race pace. Marc is super fast at that point and we need to be more close to him.

“We have work to do this afternoon trying to see the data from him and try to see in which areas he is able to make more difference.

“Qualifying will be important, as we know, especially here with the heat we have tomorrow and even more on Sunday. To be on the front row will be the key for the sprint and especially also for the long race.”