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Rewind to the pre-event press conference at Jerez on Thursday \u2013 on his 30th birthday \u2013 and last year\u2019s Spanish Grand Prix winner was asked about his chances of going back-to-back to arrest a slow start to his 2026 season, one where expectations were raised after he\u2019d finished as championship runner-up to older brother Marc last year. <\/p>\n
Was another Sunday as the Jerez home hero on the cards after his breakthrough first Grand Prix win at the same circuit<\/a> 12 months ago?<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n RACE REPORT <\/a> Spaniard goes back-to-back at home after champion\u2019s high-speed spill<\/p>\n FEAST OR FAMINE<\/a> The sprint stats that make MotoGP\u2019s unstoppable force vulnerable<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely not,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit not realistic in this moment. The first part of the season has been a little bit difficult for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Marquez had that last part right, at least. <\/p>\n Through three races in Thailand, Brazil and Texas, the Gresini Ducati rider hadn\u2019t finished better than fourth in a sprint (Texas), or sixth in a full-distance Grand Prix (Brazil). <\/p>\n As for the rest of his crystal ball-gazing? He missed. By miles. <\/p>\n Marquez was comfortably the fastest man in practice on Friday, was understandably miffed when inclement weather saw him qualify fifth on Saturday, and then crestfallen when he fell from the lead of the 12-lap sprint on Saturday<\/a> with four laps left. When you\u2019re in a sweet spot in dry conditions on a track where you\u2019ve previously tasted success, the last thing you need is for the heavens to open. <\/p>\n Come Sunday, with the sun beating down on the packed hillsides beside the track that saw 100,000-plus fans in attendance and zero chance of a view of the 13-turn track if you weren\u2019t inside the gates before dawn, the scale of Marquez\u2019s advantage quickly became clear. <\/p>\n From fifth on the grid, he was past Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati), Johann Zarco (Honda) and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) within a lap. Six corners into the second lap, older brother and pole-sitter Marc Marquez was dispatched for the lead at turn six. Five corners after that, Marc was on the ground after a 200km\/h-plus get-off, a nasty high-speed low-side where he was fortunate to escape injury. <\/p>\n As Marc Marquez saw it, the race was already done in those five corners between losing the lead and losing the front of his GP26 machine. <\/p>\n \u201cJust a mistake \u2026 but on those first laps I was trying to control everything because I knew Alex was faster than everybody this weekend in dry conditions,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n As with most things in Alex Marquez\u2019s MotoGP career, the sheer weight of achievements earned by his big brother cast a large shadow again on Sunday. <\/p>\n Last year at Jerez when Alex won, Marc crashed out on lap three before rejoining. This year, he was down a lap earlier and wasn\u2019t able to continue. But these aren\u2019t two Grands Prix wins that come with asterisks. Alex was ahead on both occasions where his more celebrated sibling slid out. <\/p>\n Jerez \u2013 along with Catalunya and Sepang in Malaysia \u2013 have long been Alex Marquez circuits to shine even before his three-win, 12-podium breakout campaign last year. The difference last year was that his list of successful circuits swelled as he piloted the user-friendly Ducati GP24 \u2013 the most effective Ducati model of the past three years \u2013 to a season few would have expected possible for a rider so deep into his 20s and a MotoGP career that began at Honda in 2020. <\/p>\n After how 2026 had gone before Jerez, it was little wonder Marquez was a little lost for a reasonable explanation on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened \u2026 I don\u2019t have the answer,\u201d he eventually laughed. <\/p>\n \u201cFrom the Friday, I was flying. I don\u2019t know why, honestly \u2026 we need to analyse what happened compared to the first three weeks of the beginning of the season. <\/p>\n \u201cI was just thinking of the positive things, just pushing the team and Ducati with the problems and just focusing on the positive things. But, this is really unexpected. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s true that today we were the favourites with the pace, but when we were second on the first lap, I say \u2018OK, we have many possibilities, we need to go for it\u2019. I decided to overtake Marc and from that moment try to not make mistakes, and make my pace. The same pace I had in the practice on Friday evening \u2026 that was what I did, and I was able to push and have something in the pocket if necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew I needed to overtake Marco [Bezzecchi] fast because later would be really, really difficult. The team showed me on the pit board \u2018Marc out\u2019, and it was important for me to know because he was one of the riders who had the pace [in race simulations] on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n With a one-day in-season test scheduled for Monday at Jerez, celebrations would have to be short and sweet for Marquez. Yes, Ducati snapped Aprilia\u2019s run of five successive wins \u2013 all from Bezzecchi since last year\u2019s penultimate round in Portugal \u2013 but Bezzecchi still managed to win from losing, extending his championship lead to 11 points over teammate Jorge Martin, with Marc Marquez\u2019s title defence becoming a steeper task after he fell 44 points \u2013 more than the 37 available for one perfect Grand Prix weekend \u2013 adrift. <\/p>\n Ducati still has work to do, but that was a job for Monday and beyond. For now, Alex Marquez was determined to enjoy a rare chance to relive a special career success a year later. <\/p>\n \u201cThis weekend, it felt really similar to last year,\u201d he said of the feeling on the bike. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to understand in [the coming races] at Le Mans, Montmelo [Catalunya], Mugello if the step we did here is real, or just one weekend. I think Aprilia is still half a step in front of us, and we need to find something to be a little bit better.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this weekend \u2026 I think it\u2019s something magic, Jerez. There\u2019s no words to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n Marc Marquez led younger brother Alex on lap one at Jerez, but the story of the race was to immediately change … (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n AGIUS TICKS BIG BOX TO MOVE CLOSER TO MOTO2 LEAD<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Senna Agius did wonders for his quest to move to MotoGP<\/a> for the first season of the sport\u2019s 850cc regulation revolution set for 2027, the Sydney 20-year-old winning the Moto2 race at Jerez on Sunday to advance to second in the intermediate-class championship.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n SPRINT REPORT<\/a> Champ recovers to win crazy rain-hit Jerez sprint race after crashing<\/p>\n