In the wake of another MotoGP triple crown and Jorge Lorenzo’s retirement, Honda has announced it’s signed Alex Marquez to its factory team for 2020.
Alex is, of course, brother to Marc Maquez, the winningest rider in MotoGP these days, with eight world championships. Alex is no slowpoke himself, having won two championships. He took this year’s Moto2 championships with 262 points, to Brad Binder’s 259.
However, despite his wins, it seems likely big brother Marc is the main reason Alex is moving to the Repsol team, although he says that isn’t the case.
Not many details about the contract have emerged yet; we do know that it’s only for one year.
No doubt this move will leave free agent Johann Zarco and Honda satellite rider Cal Crutchlow disappointed, as both their names were bandied about in the talk of who would take over Lorenzo’s place on the Repsol team. Zarco won’t complain much, probably, but with Crutchlow, well, if he isn’t happy, we’ll likely hear about it sooner or later.
First rule in racing: beat your team mate. Looks like Alex is going to have to sit in his brother’s shade for a while… Terrible working dynamic for ‘family’ members. SMH…
Well, the question is, will Alex become the Tony Esposito of MotoGP, the Dennis Hull of MotoGP, or the Keith Gretzky?
My suspicion is that Marc wants him around to show him the ropes, and make sure he gets a fair shake, but also to make sure he doesn’t get tooooooo good right away. Many reasons why Alex is on a 1-year contract.
Personally, I feel Crutchlow should have had first shot at the job.