Forget Michael and Ralf Schumacher, MotoGP has conjured up a sibling rivalry which could well enthral the motorsport world this season.
The greatest show on two wheels got underway at the weekend in Thailand, and both the sprint and feature races saw Marc Marquez come home ahead of his younger brother Alex.
The result was remarkable for two reasons – Alex has only once finished second before, and eight-time world champion Marc hasn’t led the championship since 2019 due to a number of brutal injuries.
There are now expectations that Marc could topple former bitter rival Valentino Rossi to match him on nine championships, and while all of Italy will be against him, he may not have expected that his mother would be too.
The brothers are always joined at race weekends by their father and manager Julia, but it’s not often that their mum speaks up, until now.
Roser Alenta spoke to Cadena SER after the surprise first race, and when asked which of her sons she would like to see win the world championship, she had no intention at all to sit on the fence.
“I prefer Alex to win,” she said to some surprise, before explaining.
“In the time he has been in MotoGP, he has always been told that he races because he is ‘the brother of’. And that is a lie, because he is a born worker.
“My dream would be for him to have at least one championship, Marc already has eight.”
When it was put to Alenta that another title for Marc would see him match Rossi after their years of unceremonious fighting, she wasn’t interested.
“That is secondary, for me it is the least important factor,” she said. “If Alex has one, I am very happy.
“If they do not get injured, even better. And if he does not win any, it does not matter.”
Asked if she thinks he elder son would agree, she replied: “Yes, Marc thinks the same. And I think he already said it some time ago, he commented on it.
“He would be very happy if his brother won a MotoGP championship. He doesn’t have that grudge that he has to win the ninth one no matter what, at least that’s what he conveys to me.”
The opener saw the Marquez brothers keep things very clean with just a smattering of overtakes, but in MotoGP that’s not always possible, and their mum is fully aware.
Giving advice to the duo, she’s happy for them to keep it sensible, and if not, they’ll have her to answer to.
“I don’t think they’re going to get into vicious fights,” she said. “They can fight but in a healthy way, because if not, the fight they’ll get at home will be monumental.”
With the brothers finishing first and second in both the shortened and full races in Thailand, the pattern continued on the podium with Marc’s teammate and three-time champion Pecco Bagnaia in third.
Absent for the opener was reigning champion Jorge Martin, who is expected to also miss round two in Argentina after a nasty testing accident.
