Marc Marquez hits out at recent criticism of brother Alex

MotoGP world championship leader Marc Marquez has hit out at his brother Alex’s critics, calling for more understanding for the line riders walk at every race.

The six-time champion’s comments come after recent social media theorising that Alex does not fight Marc with the same intensity he would bring to a battle with another rider. 

Although Alex is enjoying the best season of his MotoGP career on the Gresini Ducati, he has routinely been second to Marc in races and also taken up residence in the same position on the points table.

Speculation about Alex’s appetite for challenging Marc surfaced once again after the sprint race at Assen on Saturday. Alex, 29, appeared to be faster than Marc but did not attempt a move on the 32-year-old, who duly won the race. 

But following Marc’s victory in Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, in which Marco Bezzecchi had no more success passing Marc than Alex had had the previous day, the winner spoke out in the press conference.

His words also came whilst Alex was flying to Spain for surgery, having fractured his hand in a crash during the race.

“I want to say to people that they need to respect all the riders,” said Marc. “Yesterday in the media sessions [people started suggesting] ‘your brother didn’t attack you like other riders’. And my mechanics told me that people were starting to talk about things on social media too.

“And today? Why didn’t Marco attack me? [Because] on this track, which is super narrow, you cannot attack the rider in front. So, yesterday, I defended against Alex in the best way possible and today I defended against Marco in the best way possible. 

“But one more time: respect the MotoGP riders. All of them defend their colours and defend their teams. The whole grid wants to win. But the problem is that only one is able to win.”