One Marquez Streak ended with a crash from the lead of the MotoGP race at COTA on Sunday, but the Alex Marquez brothers finished second in six of the six so far this season.
His reward was to take the lead at the World Championships for the first time in his premier class career.
Grecini Rider began the race strongly, holding the second early on before being handed over to his brother’s factory Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia.
When Mark fell on lap 9, Alex moved up the spot and eventually crossed the finish line just two seconds behind Bagnaia.
“If I told me before the first race, I would have said, ‘You’re going to lead the championship,’ “You’re crazy!”,” Alex smiled.
“We’re ‘Mr P2’ and I’m happy with it! There is no problem creating P2 until the end.
“We need to enjoy the moment. We know what we have. We need to approach every race as we do and try to extract 100% chances. I try to continue like this.”
“Last year’s bike-leading championship is amazing.”
Alex’s championship lead is another personal milestone, but he struggled more with COTA than in the previous two rounds.
“If you compare my performances in Thailand, Argentina and here, this was the worst in terms of emotions and how I got close to every corner,” he explained.
“After the first few laps, I saw them go faster than me. I had a big moment of losing the front line on turn 10 and said, “OK, today we need to be third. We really need to settle down.”
“Then when I saw Mark crash, I said, ‘Okay, take care.’
“I am really pleased with how we manage everything and how consistent we are in the top three, and that is exactly what we need to keep doing.
“But more than anything, it’s because running last year’s bikes and leading the championship is really great for an independent team.”
Alex scored two sprints in 2023, but has yet to win the MotoGP on Sunday – is one point on the mark heading into Qatar’s round four.