Alex Marquez reveals “bastard” reaction to British MotoGP sprint win from Marc

The Gresini rider went from third on the grid in the damp 10-lap sprint at Silverstone on Saturday to claim his first MotoGP victory after fending off a late charge from poleman Marco Bezzecchi.

It marked Alex Marquez’s first grand prix win of any kind since 2019 in Moto2, and the first for the Marquez family since Marc’s Emilia Romagna GP victory in 2021.

Despite struggling to a lowly 18th in the sprint on his Honda, Marc Marquez stopped on track to celebrate with Alex after the chequered flag.

“I know that he suffered a lot during the race, but when he saw me winning the race he was really happy,” Alex revealed afterwards.

“It was special. He said to me ‘you were really fast today, bastard’. It was really good and just I was trying to push like he did many, many times.”

Commenting on his race further, Marquez added: “I’m really happy. This was morning, the quali was really difficult but we saved it in a good way [after I crashed].

“I was expecting more rain this afternoon, but was quite dry. So, I was having some doubts before the start of the race.

“I felt really good already on the sighting lap going to the grid, and also on the warm-up lap.

“I started the race a little bit sleeping, because in the first corners many riders overtook me.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But after a few laps I was having good traction and a good feeling with the bike, and I said ‘Ok, I have to go, I need to make the gap now’.

“The sprint race, you have less points to lose and can take more risk.”

VR46 rider Bezzecchi was able to wipe out Marquez’s near-second gap across the final lap, with the latter revealing he made a gear-shifting mistake into Copse which lost him 0.5s.

“I did a big mistake in Turn 9 missing the shift down,” he said.

“Instead of third, I did the corner in second gear, and I lost 0.5s.

“So, at that moment I knew it was close but I knew in that point I was quite fast. And with the front tyre on the limit, I knew it would be difficult for him to overtake me.”

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro has had a number of on-track scuffles with Alex Marquez in recent years, but heaped praise on his compatriot – highlighting how “difficult” his position is being Marc Marquez’s brother.

“I like Alex very much, in fact, I think he is one of the most normal and calm guys,” Espargaro, who was fifth, said.

“On the track we may have had our ups and downs, but not outside. I'm glad he won, I really mean it.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I'm happy for him and for his team, I like Gresini a lot. Alex is a hard worker and sometimes being in the position he is in [being Marc's brother] is more difficult than easy.

“Marc is Marc, but Alex is Alex and he has done a great job these months and his race, even if it was just a sprint, has been very solid.”

Additional reporting by German Garcia Casanova