Alex Marquez lands coveted Honda ride alongside brother
Title-winning brothers Alex and Marc Marquez will make up Repsol Honda’s 2020 line up after the latter was signed as Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement.
It will be the first time in MotoGP history that two brothers have raced for the same team at the same time.
Repsol Honda confirm Alex on a one-year deal
Reigning MotoGP champions Repsol Honda have announced Alex Marquez will join the team in 2020, signing a one-year deal with the Moto2 champion.
Alex won the 2019 Moto2 campaign with a race to spare, wrapping it up in Malaysia ahead of South Africa’s Brad Binder.
The 23-year-old was contracted to remain with Marc VDS before Honda came calling after Lorenzo’s shock retirement.
“We decided that this was the guy we wanted to choose,” Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig told Autosport.
“He is Moto2 World Champion and we think it’s a nice opportunity also for us and for him.
“We believe that any rider that wins a World title deserves a ride – or deserves the chance to have these opportunities.”
The Marquez surname wasn’t a factor
Alex will join his brother, Marc, in what is set to be a phenomenal line up of brotherly talent.
Both Marquezs have won World titles in their classes with the elder Marquez once again the favourite to take the 2020 crown.
Puig, though, insisted to GPOne that the Marquez surname didn’t factor in the team’s decision.
“Because of his results on the track and not because of his last name, I want to be clear,” he said.
“The starting point of our reasoning was that he’s the Moto2 World Champion. It he weren’t, we wouldn’t have given him this opportunity.
“Honda is looking for a rider for the future, and Alex is young.”
He was also quick to downplay claims that Marc was pushing Honda to sign his brother instead of Johann Zarco.
“I’ll tell you that Marc did not interfere at all,” he said.
“Of course, when we asked him: ‘[Do] you want your brother [as a team-mate]?’. Of course he will say yes.
“But he was not really going too far for this. But if you ask him, it’s normal. If you ask if you’re happy your brother is in the team, he will say yes.
“But the conversation was not with Marc – the conversation was with Alex and his manager.”
Marc won’t make life easy for his brother
Marc has vowed to race his brother as he would any other team-mate, saying his goal is quite simply to beat everyone else to another World title.
The close relationship between the brothers is evident to anyone following MotoGP with the duo often the first to congratulate – or commiserate – with the other.
That, though, won’t have any bearing when the gloves come off on race day.
“I learned a lot from my brother, and one of the things is how to avoid pressure because always the comparison is there against a brother and the extra pressure is there,” he said.
“But, in the end, I’m professional and I know that maybe my team-mate for next can be the Moto2 World Champion – it doesn’t matter who that is.
“My target will be to win the World Championship and do my best on my side of the box – doesn’t matter who is my team-mate.”
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