Be your own man
2023 was a breakthrough campaign for Alex Marquez after he was freed from the MotoGP phenomenon known as the ‘Honda Nightmare’. His premier class career was given the kickstart it needed with Gresini Racing, as Marquez finally had the machinery to remind the doubters exactly why he’s a Moto3 and Moto2 world champion.
Unfortunately, the final part of his season was hampered by injury after he fractured ribs at the Indian Grand Prix, but he had achieved many goals including a maiden pole, a return to the podium and two Sprint wins.
Can Marquez continue to build and take another step? He’ll need time to adapt to the GP23 having ridden the 2022 Desmosedici last season. From pre-season testing it’s clear that Marquez will be strong again over short distances but must continue to improve on his longer runs.
At the Sepang test, he dipped below the fastest lap of the Malaysian GP Sprint race seven times during a 10-lap simulation, while he was one of four riders to break the 1:56 barrier for the very first time at Sepang.
Confidence is an important weapon in the arsenal of a motorcycle racer, so should Marquez get off to a positive start, that could carry him on to more success in 2024. Of course, he must avoid vanishing into the shadow of his new teammate, and brother, Marc Marquez.
Throughout his career Alex has been labelled as Marc’s sibling. He cannot fall into that hole again, and maybe that will be the biggest motivator of all, to go all out to beat Marc and not play second fiddle to the looming MM93.
As is often seen across all forms of motorsport, you don’t want to become a clear number two rider who has to go out of their way to promote and aid the lead competitor.
If Alex can do that, there’s no reason why 2024 won’t be another positive year for him.
Should the pair appear on the podium together, it will be the first time brothers have done so since Nobuatsu and Takuma Aoki’s rostrum appearance behind Mick Doohan at Imola in 1997.