Alex Marquez admits that the two crashes he had in practice on Friday entered Saturday’s sprint in the MotoGP Spain Grand Prix “Blinds” from a set-up standpoint.
Gresini Ducati Rider broke through both practice sessions on Friday, but crashed in FP1 and lost a major loss in turn 5 for most of the second session.
Still expected to be on the podium, Alex Marquez jumped over Pecco Bagnaia from fourth on the grid at the start of the 12-lap sprint on Saturday, and was second-inherited when Paulman’s Fabio Cartalaro fell crashed on lap 2.
Alex Marquez then remained second in the overall sprint, winning the checkered flag just behind race winner Mark Marquez at factory team Ducati.
His young Marquez brother, who maintained a 100% second place finish in the sprint in 2025, is currently 20 points away from the championship lead.
He acknowledges that the second half of the race has become difficult for him as Friday’s crash made his Gresini team a “delay” in terms of setup work.
So Saturday’s sprint was like an adventure into the unknown for him.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Alex Marquez.
“Two crashes yesterday, one big crash.
“But this crowd is pushing me forward, so I just got off to a really good start and overtaking Pecco at that point was the key to the race.
“And later I really didn’t feel good, meaning we are late at work.
“I think we only do ten laps under these conditions.
“So we started to blind the sprint race a bit.
“So I just focused and tried to get to the finish.
“I hope tomorrow we can take a step like the people of today and fight a little more.”
The Jerez Sprint proved to be a strong day for the Gresini team, with rookie Fermin Aldegar completing the top five GP25.