The tables have turned in four months. From being the 17th MotoGP rider in 2022, he will enter the group of fastest riders, the best Spaniard in the pre-season tests, 7th of the 22 queen displacement. Àlex Márquez (26 years old) has sweetened his life as a rider with the change from Honda to Ducati. From suffering to illusion and hope. And an exceptional witness to the rebirth of his brother Marc. "He has returned to the Marc of before," the man from Cervera assured La Vanguardia in a meeting in Madrid.
Àlex Márquez, who experienced his brother's pain closer than anyone with his right arm injury and temporary loss of vision, has no doubt: "Marc is the favourite, at 21 races he is the best, the most complete in all the conditions and tracks. It's still the most complete, but you also have to have the weapons [a good bike] to fight because otherwise you'll win in the end."
As Àlex confesses to this newspaper, Marc "has removed his physical pain, that feeling of not being comfortable, like when you're sick. He's back to being the Marc he was before."
It is one of the reflections that Àlex shared with a small group of journalists in Madrid organized by Estrella Galicia 0,0, sponsor of the pilot, 8 days before the first race of the 2023 World Cup in Portimao. An appointment for which he sees favorites to win Pecco Bagnaia, the fastest in the preseason, Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Martín. "And Marc too. All four of them."
Although the performance of the new-old Repsol Honda did not raise too optimistic expectations in the Portimao tests, with a very discreet 14th position, 8 tenths behind Bagnaia, Àlex Márquez's feeling is that his brother will be there to fight for the championship. "I see three for the title: Pecco, Fabio and Marc."
And the tests? Didn't they leave Marc demoralized? "No. It's the pre-season, it doesn't give points", replies Àlex, who explains an anecdote about his brother's faith: "After the last tests I told him: "Me, in the Sprint Race, 5th". And he He replied: "Tell me you'll be sixth because I'll be fifth". In preseason there are those who keep cards. He controls the risks. Pecco took a high risk to set the last fastest lap, he didn't have to".
Àlex Márquez, who is facing his fourth season in MotoGP, is experiencing a new emotional renaissance on the back of a Ducati that has allowed him to recover sensations and "be fast again".
"I feel liberated, with more peace of mind, without limitations to improve, with new tools to do so," he explained. "I want to clear up my doubts, show myself that I haven't forgotten to go fast. I don't have to shut up my mouths," confesses the young rider, two-time Moto2 and Moto3 world champion.
Being the seventh best of the 22 MotoGP riders in pre-season testing encourages him to dream big this season. His challenge: "Finishing the season in the top 7-8 for a first year would be good... Setting a goal for the end of the year is difficult, the first four races are interesting, in these four if we do well it will be a good year." Although for the Sprint Race it looks better: "On paper in the Sprint Race I was fourth, two tenths from the podium. It is not known where we will be, but on Sunday we were top 5".
