MotoGP: Alex Marquez To Join Repsol Honda Alongside Brother Marc Marquez

Squashing all rumours and speculations, Repsol Honda has announced that Moto2 champion Alex Marquez will be joining the MotoGP team in 2020. Marquez Junior is none other than eight-time world champion Marc Marquez's brother and steps in place of the now-retired Jorge Lorenzo. The three-time MotoGP world champion announced his retirement last week ahead of the Valencia Grand Prix, bringing the curtains down on his racing career. With Lorenzo moving out, speculations were rife about who would replace him at Honda with rider Johann Zarco also said to be in contention, given his promising run in the last three races as part of the LCR Honda team.

However, Alex Marquez strong performance in Moto2 sealed his debut in the premier-class championship. The team has signed a one-year deal with Alex just in time for testing at Valencia, which secures the first-ever pairing of two brothers in the same team in MotoGP. On the grid though, there are the Espargaro brothers with Aleix racing for Aprilia and Pol for KTM. But with both the Marquez boys on the Honda RC213V machines, 2020 will be interesting to see how this rivalry plays out.

Alex Marquez has an impressive racing history of his own that makes him very capable of handling the litre-class machine. He became the first rider the win the Moto2 World Championship having previously clinched the Moto3 title. Alex is the fifth Spanish rider to win the Moto2 title along with Toni Elias, his brother Marc, Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat. He is also the eighth Spaniard to clinch the Moto2 title.

Alex Marquez has stood on the podium 10 times this season so far and 23 in the Moto2™ class, equalling Pol Espargaro, who stands in fifth place on the list of riders with most podium finishes in the class, two less than Marc Marquez. He has been on the podium 38 times in his racing career and has won 12 races across Moto3 and Moto2 championships. The rider has clinched 15 pole positions and 17 fastest laps. He has competed in eight world championships - three in Moto3 and five in Moto2.