Álex Márquez

Álex Márquez Alentà (born 23 April 1996) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, and the younger brother of Marc Márquez, who also competes at Grand Prix level. Márquez was the 2012 Spanish Moto3 Championship winner,[1] and won the 2014 Moto3 World Championship at the last round in Valencia. In the process, he and Marc became the first brothers to win world motorcycle racing titles in the same year, a feat that was repeated in 2019 when Alex won the Moto2 championship and Marc the MotoGP championship.[1][2]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Márquez and the second or maternal family name is Alentà.

Álex Márquez
Márquez at the 2019 Czech Republic Grand Prix
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1996-04-23) 23 April 1996 Cervera, Spain
Current team	Repsol Honda Team
Bike number	73
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2020– Manufacturers Honda Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 3 0 0 0 0 12 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2015–2019 Manufacturers Kalex Championships 1 (2019) 2019 championship position 1st (262 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 89 8 23 12 10 778 Moto3 World Championship Active years 2012–2014 Manufacturers Suter Honda, KTM, Honda Championships 1 (2014) 2014 championship position 1st (278 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 46 4 15 3 7 518

Career

Early career

He began the 2010 season in the CEV Buckler 125cc championship, competing with the Monlau Competition team, along with Álex Rins and Niklas Ajo. Márquez did not participate in the opening round at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as he was not old enough to do so – he did not turn fourteen until five days after the event. He finished eleventh in his first start at Albacete, having qualified tenth. He retired at Jerez due to clutch problems. He added finishes of seventh and sixth at Motorland Aragón and Albacete, before retiring from the final two races at Valencia and Jerez. He finished eleventh in the final riders' championship standings.

In 2011, Márquez battled with Rins for the title, with the championship honours ultimately going to Rins. Márquez won two races during the season – at Motorland Aragón and Albacete – and finished the season as runner-up, 12 points in arrears to Rins. With the championship changing to Moto3 regulations for the 2012 season, Márquez again won two races, at Albacete and Navarra; he won the championship with a fourth-place finish at Albacete.

Moto3 World Championship

Márquez made his world championship début as a wildcard at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.[3] In difficult weather conditions, Márquez scored points with a twelfth-place finish. He also made wildcard appearances at Estoril and Catalunya, scoring points on both occasions, with fifteenth and sixth respectively. After the mid-season break, Márquez moved into the series full-time from the Indianapolis Grand Prix onwards with Ambrogio Racing, replacing Simone Grotzkyj.[4] He scored points in four of the remaining eight races, and ultimately finished the season in twentieth place in the riders' championship.

In 2013, the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team moved to KTM machinery, with Márquez joining Rins in the team full-time. After predominantly finishing fourth or fifth in the races during the first half of the season, Márquez achieved his first podium finish at the Indianapolis Grand Prix with a second-place finish behind Rins. Márquez recorded three consecutive third-place finishes at Silverstone, Misano and Motorland Aragón, before taking his first career victory at the Japanese Grand Prix. He finished the season in fourth position in the final championship standings.

For 2014, Márquez and Rins remained in the series and started as the championship favourites. However, in the opening third of the season, they were usurped by Ajo Motorsport rider Jack Miller, who won three of the opening five races. Márquez took successive wins in Catalunya and the Netherlands to reduce the deficit from 44 points to 7. Márquez started a run of five top-two finishes at the British Grand Prix, including another victory at Motegi, which saw him move into the championship lead ahead over Miller and open up a 25-point gap.[5] Despite Miller winning two of the final three races, a third-place finish at the final round in Valencia saw Márquez clinch the title by two points. In the process, he and brother Marc became the first brothers to win world motorcycle racing titles.[1][2]

Moto2 World Championship

For the 2015 season, Márquez moved up to the Moto2 World Championship with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS team and finished 14th in de standings.[6] In 2016 Alex had a slightly better season and took his first Moto2 podium in the Aragon GP, ending the year in 13th. 2017 was a break through year for Alex Marquez as he won his first Moto2 race at the Spanish GP, ending a much more consistent season in 4th overall, followed up by another 4th place in 2018, despite not winning a race. Alex won the 2019 Moto2 world championship securing a double championship haul for the Marquez brothers. Alex Marquez was also the first rider to win a title in Moto3 and Moto2.

MotoGP World Championship

For the 2020 season, Alex will join his brother Marc at Repsol Honda Team replacing Jorge Lorenzo who retired at the end of the 2019 MotoGP season. Márquez was unexpectedly promoted from Moto2 to MotoGP when still contracted to Marc VDS for 2020 after the retirement announcement of Lorenzo in November 2019. Moto2 contracts can be broken if the rider is offered a place in MotoGP.[7] Márquez' old seat in Moto2 for 2020 has been taken by Spaniard Augusto Fernández.[8]

Career statistics

CEV Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos	Pts
2012	Moto3	Suter Honda	JER Ret	NAV 1	ARA 2	CAT 2	ALB 1	ALB 4	VAL	1st	103

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Number	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
2012	Moto3	Suter	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Ambrogio Next Racing	12	11	0	0	0	1	27	20th	–
2013	Moto3	KTM	Estrella Galicia 0,0	12	17	1	5	0	3	213	4th	–
2014	Moto3	Honda	Estrella Galicia 0,0	12	18	3	10	3	3	278	1st	1
2015	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	73	18	0	0	0	0	73	14th	–
2016	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	73	17	0	1	0	0	69	13th	–
2017	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	73	17	3	6	3	3	201	4th	–
2018	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	73	18	0	6	3	2	173	4th	–
2019	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	73	19	5	10	6	5	262	1st	1
2020	MotoGP	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	73	1	0	0	0	0	4*	12th*	–
Total					136	12	38	15	17	1300		2

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
Moto3	2012–2014	2012 Spain	2013 Indianapolis	2013 Japan	46	4	15	3	7	518	1
Moto2	2015–2019	2015 Qatar	2016 Aragon	2017 Spain	89	8	23	12	10	778	1
MotoGP	2020	2020 Spain			2	0	0	0	0	12	0
Total	2012–Present				137	12	38	15	17	1308	2

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pos	Pts
2012	Moto3	Suter Honda	QAT	SPA 12	POR 15	FRA	CAT 6	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	IND Ret	CZE 21	RSM Ret	ARA 15	JPN 14	MAL 14	AUS 9	VAL Ret			20th	27
2013	Moto3	KTM	QAT 4	AME Ret	SPA 23	FRA 5	ITA 5	CAT 4	NED 5	GER 5	IND 2	CZE 5	GBR 3	RSM 3	ARA 3	MAL 4	AUS 4	JPN 1	VAL 4			4th	213
2014	Moto3	Honda	QAT 2	AME Ret	ARG 2	SPA 7	FRA 5	ITA Ret	CAT 1	NED 1	GER 4	IND 6	CZE 4	GBR 2	RSM 2	ARA 2	JPN 1	AUS 2	MAL 5	VAL 3		1st	278
2015	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 11	AME 15	ARG 15	SPA 9	FRA Ret	ITA 12	CAT 11	NED 9	GER 18	IND 10	CZE 4	GBR 4	RSM Ret	ARA Ret	JPN 18	AUS 9	MAL Ret	VAL 12		14th	73
2016	Moto2	Kalex	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME 11	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 16	CAT 18	NED 8	GER Ret	AUT 6	CZE 5	GBR 25	RSM 10	ARA 2	JPN Ret	AUS DNS	MAL 7	VAL Ret		13th	69
2017	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 5	ARG 21	AME 4	SPA 1	FRA 4	ITA 3	CAT 1	NED 6	GER Ret	CZE 2	AUT 2	GBR 14	RSM DNS	ARA Ret	JPN 1	AUS 6	MAL Ret	VAL 5		4th	201
2018	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 3	ARG 5	AME 2	SPA Ret	FRA 2	ITA 5	CAT 3	NED 3	GER 13	CZE Ret	AUT Ret	GBR C	RSM 18	ARA 4	THA Ret	JPN 4	AUS 7	MAL 7	VAL 3	4th	173
2019	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 7	ARG 3	AME 5	SPA 24	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED Ret	GER 1	CZE 1	AUT 2	GBR Ret	RSM 3	ARA 3	THA 5	JPN 6	AUS 8	MAL 2	VAL 30	1st	262
2020	MotoGP	Honda	SPA 12	ANC 8	CZE 15	AUT 13	STY	RSM	EMI	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	POR						13th*	13*

^* Season still in progress.

References

1. "Alex Marquez – a new World Champion in the family". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
2. "Marquez clinches title in third as Miller wins final race". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
3. "Gran Premio bwin de España – Moto3 Entry list" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
4. "Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix – Moto3 Entry list" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
5. Morrison, Neil (2 December 2014). "Marquez v Miller - round-by-round". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
6. "Moto2: Alex Marquez to Marc VDS". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
7. Alex Marquez Confirmed Alongside Brother Marc In Repsol Honda Team For 2020 motomatters.com, 18 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019
8. Moto2: Fernandez takes Marquez’s spot at Marc VDS crash.net, 24 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019

External links

• Alex Márquez rider profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Alex Rins	CEV Buckler Moto3 Champion 2012	Succeeded by Fabio Quartararo