Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 42 October 20

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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P110 CN III IN THE PADDOCK BY MICHAEL SCOTT A mong many strange events, 2020 is not just the Year of the Rookie, but also the Year of the Brother. Put it another way: to succeed in motorcycle racing, have a sibling with the same ambition. Then ideally you want to keep him at arm's length. Brotherhood is one way to explain Alex Marquez's extraor- dinary second place at Le Mans on Sunday. To be fair, brotherhood also largely explains why he is in the top Honda team at all. Moto2 title notwithstanding, a class rookie was not the most obvious choice to recruit for one of the highest-level seats in MotoGP. But it hasn't necessarily all been a cushy ride. The younger former bedroom-sharer of the (still sadly absent) current best rider in the world has suffered for years under the shadow of Marc. The forensic scrutiny began when he arrived in Moto3 in 2012, when he scored just a pair of lower top-10s, some- where short of Marc's first-sea- son benchmark of six top-10s, including a podium. On Sunday in France, Alex stepped out of that shadow and finally made good on the long-ago comment by both his brother and their father that "Alex is faster than Marc was, at the same age." From 18th on the grid to a strong second was a fine achievement, after a first men's- class season on the high-level factory Honda. Particularly since OH, BROTHER! Alex Marquez has to live in the shadow of his high-profile brother.

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