Alex Marquez stamps his mark on MotoGP with back-to-back podiums

Alex Marquez firmly makes his mark without big brother Marc's help as he notches up his first dry weather podium just a week after his maiden achievement in the wet

Ollie Barstow

18 Oct 2020

Alex Marquez, Aragon MotoGP race. 18 October 2020
© Gold and Goose

Having tempered the excitement of his maiden MotoGP podium at Le Mans last weekend because it was achieved in the wet, Alex Marquez had no reason to remain so reserved today as another charging ride up the order saw him claim a significant second consecutive podium in Motorland Aragon, but this time in the dry.

Coming of age in France as the troubles of the season thus far aboard the tricky Honda RC213V melted away on the slippery Le Mans circuit, Marquez himself said it would only mean something if he could achieve something similar in dry conditions.

Almost exactly a week later, this is exactly what happened, Marquez climbing rapidly through the order from 11th on the grid to haul himself into a victory fight with the dominant Suzukis. Falling just short of victory as a steadfast Alex Rins succeeded in his defence, a second breakthrough result in as many weekends has left Marquez feeling ‘proud’.

“I am so happy, so proud of our race because throughout the weekend we saw great potential. In practice i was enjoying a lot, I felt free on the bike, I was Alex on the bike and I said today would be a good day so from the beginning I tried to push, but Rins was smarter on the first lap and was able to recover more positions than me and I think this was the key of the race,

“But I felt really good with my overtakes, I was surprised myself to be so fast at that moment of the race and I felt really good on the bike. I knew before the race that in the last laps I had been one of the best riders managing the tyres so I waited until the end, trying to be smart and smooth.

“But two laps from the end I made two mistakes, in the last corner and the first corner, that cost me the chance to fight for victory. In the last lap I tried again in the hope Rins would make a mistake but he was really fast in the last lap. Really happy, really important dry podium.”

Intended to race alongside his brother and six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez this season before his injury at the opening round, if the elder of the two doesn’t return before the year is out he may miss out on the chance of crossing the same finish line in Repsol Honda colours before Alex is shifted to LCR Honda for 2021.

Recuperating at home, Marc was in proud big brother mode on social media, jokingly introducing himself as Alex’s brother...