Alex Márquez: Sprint podium “important after the injury”

“I love racing in front of our home crowd, and I’m delighted that we have a total of four home races!” With these words, Alex Márquez addressed the Spanish fans after the MotoGP Sprint at Aragon. Moments earlier, the fans had welcomed the brothers onto the podium with chants of ‘Márquez’.

The Gresini rider had secured second place in the sprint behind his brother Marc. The Spaniard made his decisive move after just a few metres. Whilst Marc Marquez snatched the lead from pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi on the inside of Turn 1, Alex capitalised on the situation and also overtook the Aprilia rider on the outside.

This put the 30-year-old in second place after just the first corner – a position that was never seriously threatened until the finish line. Marquez had already put in a strong performance on Friday with second place in free practice, and in Saturday morning’s qualifying session he secured third on the grid. “The whole weekend has gone well so far, even though the most important race isn’t until Sunday.”

Alex Marquez hielt sich bis zur Zielflagge vor Marco Bezzecchi

Foto: Gold and Goose

High emotional significance for Alex Marquez

For Marquez, the sprint podium also held great emotional significance, as the Spaniard continues to work his way back to his former form following his recent injury lay-off. “This second place is very important for me after the injury. It was already a blow at Silverstone not to be able to finish on the podium after such a good weekend.”

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The result in Aragon confirms his improving form and the progress he’s made with his physical condition. “Things are steadily getting better and my shoulder is healing well,” reported Marquez.

In fact, the race weekend at MotorLand had gone extremely promisingly for the Gresini rider right up until Saturday. In no session prior to the Sprint did Márquez finish lower than seventh. In Friday’s free practice, he finished second, and in qualifying he secured a place on the front row of the grid.

However, this does not guarantee another podium finish in the Grand Prix. Due to the longer race distance, a different challenge awaits on Sunday. “We’ve done a great job so far this weekend. But we’ll still need to make a few changes to be able to stand on the podium again on Sunday.”