Alex Marquez silenced doubts about his willingness to challenge his brother Mark after finishing just 1.3 seconds behind in Argentina Motogue on Sunday.
Gresini Ducati Rider shrugged an early offense from Francesco Bagnaia and took advantage of a rare mistake from Marc to lead on lap 4.
The young Marquez previously finished 1.7 seconds behind the mark in the opening game of the Thai season, but was an even greater threat in Argentina, forcing #93 to curb the risk.
“I tried to push from the beginning. I got off to a good start and Pecco hit me on three turns, but I managed to get back to the second,” Alex said.
“I felt really good. I had a lot of questions before the race about the choice of tires, but in the end I decided to be like Mark and Pecco with a medium rear.
“Later, when Mark made a small mistake on Turn 1, I said, ‘OK, I’ll go for it.’ I tried to take a nice pace and managed to give the second group a gap. ”
After chasing the brothers through the middle stage, Mark ran wide during the first charge for the lead, going for 10 laps, with Alex giving him temporary relief.
They then both set the best race laps on lap 19 with 25 laps, then the permanence of the mark was eventually left with five laps, rewarding at the same corner.
“When he attacked me on five turns five, I said, ‘OK, time to try,'” Alex recalled.
“So I gave 100%. I did ‘38.3 and he managed to make ‘38.2. I was really at the limit. I crash almost every corner.
“I fought him and tried to be there, but he can reach more limits in the final part of the race, and there we need to improve.
“But I’m very happy with everything on the weekend.”
Still chasing his first MotoGP victory, Alex has finished runner-up in his new factory Ducati rider mark in all four races this season.
“I feel I’ve always been the strongest in MotoGP.”
“That’s the moment I feel the strongest in MotoGP,” confirmed Alex.
“This bike suits me in a really good way with a riding style. So I just enjoy riding the bike. I play with the bike and it’s really great. I have to keep going that way.
“The team is doing superjobs and we also provide support from Ducati. We need to understand a few things from Mark, but here we are closer and we are very happy to be fighting your brother for a MotoGP victory.”
Alex Marquez, Mark Marquez, 2025 Argentina Motogpu
“This question is rude to me.”
As Mark even called Alex the main opponent in the title, the young Marquez was asked if he needed to “break the respect” to beat him.
Alex quickly closed the proposal.
“I asked this question many times. “When do you lose your respect for Mark, or ‘You respect Mark too much,” replied Alex.
“To me, this question is disrespectful to me. I’m a rider. I always give 100%. I’m trying to push the team for my sponsor. I know it’s my brother, and when I overtake him, I’ll especially admire him.
“I’m the first person who wants to beat him, and I want to win. But I know how Mark is, so I’m more realistic than anyone else. I know his strengths, and I have no problem saying them.
“Maybe (usually) you don’t directly say that your rival is doing really good things, but since it’s my brother, I have no problem saying that.
“And I have no problem accepting whether he is better than me in some respects.
“That’s why I try to learn. I always try to give it like 100% of my own.
“But stop thinking I have too much respect for Mark. I saw today. We fight each other. He was faster than me and I gave 100%.
“So I’m second most satisfied. I know he’s better than me in some areas, and I’ll try to improve for the future.”
Alex, who has never reached eighth place in MotoGP positions, delays two rounds of his 16 points season to mark, leaving 15 points ahead of another multi-time MotoGP champion, Bagnaia.