The Marquez brothers will become team-mates in MotoGP for the second time in 2024 after Marc elected to quit Honda a year early to join Gresini Ducati.
The pair last raced together as team-mates at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix at Honda, before Marc Marquez badly broke his arm in a crash and missed the rest of the season, while Alex Marquez moved to LCR for 2021.
Marc Marquez made a strong debut on the GP23 Ducati at the Valencia test last month, finishing fourth overall before going for surgery on an arm pump issue that had plagued him in the second half of the season.
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Alex Marquez, who scored two sprint wins in 2023, says he needs to take advantage of having Marc next to him in the garage again as he will “increase the level of the team”.
“It was nice,” he said when asked what it was like being team-mates with his brother again.
“I mean, we were quite focused on our side. The time was really short on track [in the test] so there wasn’t any time to check things.
“But as I said when they announced his arrival, I think it will be something that will increase the level of the team and I need to take profit of that.
“I have personally a really good opportunity to grow as a rider.”
Alex Marquez says the step from the GP22 to the GP23 was noticeable in the test, particularly with the change in power delivery, which he says he needs to get his head around still.
“Yeah, I mean it’s a step compared to our bike,” he said of the 2023 Ducati that Francesco Bagnaia won the championship on.
“We had not an easy day because the conditions were not easy. With the wind and all that, it was not really easy to understand everything.
“We did one run on the GP22, later we changed to the GP23, and things were better.
“Still, I need to adapt my riding style to that bike because power delivery is a little bit different.
“But apart from that, the new aerodynamics were better for my front feeling and is something interesting for the future.”
