Alex Marquez says his “painful” Sprint crash sharpened his focus and ultimately propelled him to a “perfect” victory in the Catalan MotoGP, toppling brother Marc Marquez to end the factory Ducati star’s stunning 15-race win streak.
It was Alex’s second-ever premier-class victory — after Jerez — and his first grand prix podium since Sachsenring before the summer break.
The Gresini rider admitted Saturday’s crash, which he blamed on overconfidence while leading, still stings, but in hindsight, it played a key role in Sunday’s success.
“That mistake is still painful, but it was the best way to forget it a little bit,” Alex said. “Also, that mistake helped me win today because I was braking so late in that corner when I did that mistake.”
Alex lost the holeshot to Marc at Turn 1 but struck back a few laps later. Despite being the fastest rider for race pace in practice, he couldn’t break away from the factory Ducati until the final laps.
“Never relaxed with Marc behind”
“It’s not easy to have Marc behind you for 24 laps,” Alex admitted. “Many times I say to the guys, ‘don’t put the name [on the pit board], just forget it’.”
“It’s really difficult because he’s a rider that you know will be on the limit, closing the front, the rear, but he will always try. So you are never relaxed when you have Marc behind.”
“I was just trying to manage the tyres, manage everything. I did a perfect race, no mistakes. I’m so happy for that and it was the best way to come back to our level.”
Gravel roll and middle finger
Alex’s victory celebrations were as fiery as the race itself. He stopped at Turn 10 — the corner that bit him in the Sprint — rolled himself in the gravel, and unleashed a defiant double middle finger at the turn.
“The most special celebration was at Turn 12, in front of the fans,” he smiled. “But at Turn 10, I said, I hate that corner today and I need to take revenge! So I did the roll, and both middle fingers. Like, you are here, but today I won!”
The win not only cut Marc’s championship lead slightly to 182 points, ensuring the MotoGP title fight extends beyond Misano, but also strengthened Alex’s grip on second in the standings, giving him a 68-point cushion over Francesco Bagnaia.
