Yet for four years they were able to keep their distance, up until 2025, when sharing the same patch or tarmac heading into turn one was a weekly occurrence.
Despite the proximity, there weren’t really any major incidents between the pair, even though they insisted they treated each other the same as any other rider.
Marc and Alex have been teammates in the past, but now they’re rivals again (Credit: Red Bull Content Pool)
Marc Marquez admits racing Alex is different
The elder brother Marc has now honestly admitted that isn’t quite the case while speaking to French YouTube channel Automoto:
“Competition is competition, but against your brother it’s a bit different. In the end I always try to defend my colours, but we don’t have any secrets between us, we always train together.
“Last year was our best year in the championship; we finished first and second, we were living together, training together, same diet, same supplements! Everything the same but then on the race track I was working with my team, he was working with his team.
“It’s true that on the track overtaking your brother compared to overtaking another rider, it’s a bit different, but always you attack and try to find your best, but in the end both of us understand.”
Marc has admitted things are different racing Alex (Credit: Red Bull Content Pool)
“At the beginning of last year I said to him, ‘Your level this year is super high, we will fight against [each other]’, but it doesn’t matter what happens in the track, we will continue our relationship as brothers, we’ll shake hands, and it’s like that.
“For people to understand a bit, it’s like football, for example, Barcelona vs Real Madrid. When they play against each other, the players are defending their colours; then, in a few months they’re together in the World Cup with the same [national] team and then they are super friendly.
“Against riders it’s a bit similar, we have a big competition out there, but then when we finish the season everyone is more friendly.”
Nice guy off the bike, relentless on it
But what about the other 20 riders? Marquez’s ruthlessness is famous, all despite his reputation as a kind soul once his helmet is off. He explained:
“I try to be gentle with people but in the end you can’t be with your competitors. Always you try to be correct, but always on the limit. The word is competition. In competition, you try to win and what I’m trying to do on the race track is trying to find the best way to win and to attack when I can. In racing I try to find the best compromise to ride on the limit. The limit gives to you the adrenaline that our bodies need.
“It’s true when I stop racing I try to be a nice guy, but you cannot be nice to everybody, you cannot be friendly to everybody, but I always try to take care of my people, it’s one of my qualities, to try and protect my people.”
Marquez has to bury his nice guy image once his helmet is on (Photo: Ducati Media House)
Marc Marquez the footballer?
While speaking to Automoto’s Bader Benlekehal, Marquez also spoke about his love for football as a child, but how his family had to make some tough choices. Coming from a modest background, Julia Marquez had to give his son a choice, teaching him the value of money:
“It was super important and I’m very thankful to my father for teaching me. I can say to you I have money, but I know the value of life. My father taught me like that. He always said to me, ‘If you want to ride a bike, we can’t go to Disneyland,’ for example.
“Also I liked football a lot, and I was asking my father ‘I want to play football with my friends, with a team’ and my father said: ‘Choose your time and your money, do you want to use your time with bikes or football’ I said: ‘OK bikes’. My father was not happy because football is maybe less expensive, but it’s an example of how my father’s tried to teach me the value of life.”