Marc Marquez says brother Alex “on another level” as main title rival

Argentina Grand Prix winner Marc Marquez says he views his brother Alex – not factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia – as his main opponent for this year’s MotoGP world championship.

Alex, who rides a year-old GP24 Ducati for the Gresini team, has finished second to Marc in both sprints and both grands prix so far this season. But this represents the most successful streak of the former Moto2 and Moto3 world champion’s MotoGP career so far. And Marc had to work harder for today’s grand prix win than any of his previous three 2025 triumphs over Alex.

Marc made his first visible mistakes of the season during the Sunday race, having lost the lead to Alex from lap 4 to lap 22 of the 25. He regained the advantage only at the second attempt to take the win over Alex, Franco Morbidelli and Bagnaia, who missed the podium for the first time this season.

After the race, despite the possibility that Ducati development might see Marc’s (and Bagnaia’s) GP25 gain more of an edge on Alex’s GP24 as the season progresses, Marc said he saw his brother as his biggest rival in the title race. Marc leads Alex by 16 points following the trip to South America.

“Alex will win some races this year, more than one!” said Marc. “I know that when he is [feeling confident], he is able to win a world championship – like he did in Moto3 and in Moto2.

“Alex is the main opponent for the championship.”

“I was impressed by my brother’s riding style today. He was riding super smoothly, super well, always keeping the corner speed. I thought ‘This guy is on another level today’.

“There were some moments today when I said to myself, ‘OK, second place is enough.’

“In the end, I [managed to win]. But as you saw, I took a lot of risks at some points in the race – maybe too much!”

Alex himself was cautious not to get caught up in questions about the title race at this point in the season, but underlined that his current form represents a high point in his career performance.

“I’ve never felt so strong in MotoGP,” said Alex. “I’m enjoying the bike and everything I do. We need to keep going like that.”