MotoGP Japanese GP
How Gresini pulled off the rescue operation with Alex Marquez
In just three years, Alex Marquez has gone from not having a MotoGP seat to landing a factory Ducati bike
Oriol Puigdemont
Published: Sep 24, 2025, 2:00 PM
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Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Alex Marquez was just one step away from being forced out of MotoGP in 2023, with no options left on the table, until Nadia Padovani, owner of Gresini Racing, decided to take a gamble on him.
Marquez’s path through the world championship has been a rollercoaster. An explosive start crowned him Moto3 champion in just his second full season (2014). Then came the reality check of his early Moto2 years, before he finally broke through in 2019 by clinching the intermediate class title. His MotoGP run has been just as up and down - debuting with Honda in 2020, before jumping to Ducati in 2023, where just two years later he now finds himself on course to finish runner-up, right behind his brother Marc Marquez.
And while Alex has done his part, there’s no doubt that the person most responsible for this transformation is Padovani. When no one else was willing to take the risk, she did - and saved his career. Without the wife of the late Fausto Gresini stepping in, it’s very likely that the rider who races with #73 wouldn’t even be on the MotoGP grid today.
The younger Marquez's first season in the premier class was defined by COVID and the absence of Marc in the Repsol Honda garage they shared, after his brother’s brutal shoulder injury at Jerez. The weight of it all was tough to carry for Alex, who moved to satellite outfit LCR Honda in 2021. But he couldn't match his promising debut season in which he had scored two podiums, and by mid-2022 he was facing the unthinkable: no MotoGP seat for 2023.
As the summer break rolled around and the rider market went into overdrive, Marquez saw rival after rival locking down their future. He admits the uncertainty left him anxious.
“We were in Sachsenring and I had no team for 2023. Everything was closing and I had no place in MotoGP. It wasn’t just that I was worried - I had anxiety,” said Alex, who has two wins and nine podiums this year.
“I had already spoken with Marc and with my parents. If nothing came up, I was going home, at least for a year. Sure, there were other championships, but I wanted to be here [MotoGP].”
That’s when Padovani’s personal bet changed everything.
“Thanks to that, I’m in the position I’m in now. When you join Gresini, you understand why this team works so well. Nadia is the boss, and she’s involved in every decision. It’s not just my team - it’s my family,” he added.
Nadia Padovani, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Out of respect, he vows not to listen to offers from elsewhere until Gresini puts its cards on the table for 2027.
“I know that if I keep performing, next year I’ll have plenty of options. But I’ll never talk to other teams while I’m here, because of the respect they’ve shown me," he said. “When Marc walks into a garage, it’s like a tsunami”
If there’s one thing Marc Marquez highlights most about his younger brother, it’s his mental strength - vital for someone who’s spent his whole career living in the shadow of one of the greatest riders of all time.
The brothers have already shared a garage twice. First in 2020 with HRC, although Marc’s season-ending arm injury in Jerez cut that short, and again last year at Gresini, when Padovani pulled off yet another rescue, this time bringing in Marc after his split with Honda.
Because of those experiences, Alex knows better than anyone the effect Marc has when he arrives in a garage— - something Francesco Bagnaia is now experiencing first-hand at Ducati’s factory team in 2025.
“You’re in a garage where you’ve been the main man for years, and suddenly this tsunami named Marc shows up, with everything that comes with him and the pressure it generates. He’s got this aura, he’s a natural leader,” explained Alex.
“You think you’re already under the highest level of pressure, and then Marc arrives and it goes to another dimension. You have to be really prepared to handle that. I don’t think Pecco’s issue is that, though - I see him as mentally very strong.”
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