It was in 2016 at Le Mans when, after the nth accident, Álex Márquez got mad at everyone, with his team, with his rivals and, above all, with himself, to discover down there, bottoming out, that not everything would be so easy. Until that moment, he had been champion of Spain in 2012 and champion of the Moto3 World Championship in 2014 and followed precisely the successful steps of his older brother Marc. From that moment, the little one of the Márquez began to build his own path, the path of someone who had already known defeat and the anxiety it provokes, a path with more bumps than expected.

In his first years at the Moto2 World Championship, in 2015 and 2016, Álex Márquez lost everything that was lost, fell as many times as possible, and despite this, after much effort, he finally celebrated this Sunday: he closed his title mathematically of the intermediate category with a second place in Sepang. It was in a race more than exciting. Brad Binder escaped, Marquez knew how to stay behind, with an advantage over Thomas Luthi , and during the last laps he only had to control himself from falling.

It was a demonstration of control that drove away the ghosts of the last races. Because since his streak of four almost consecutive victories in summer, Álex Márquez had recovered mistakes from the past and, on the current Asian tour, he had even been fearful again. In Thailand and Motegi he was already far from the podium and on Philip Island, last week, he signed the worst race of the year with an improper eighth place. The doubts of its beginnings in Moto2 returned momentarily, but this weekend, from the first training sessions in Sepang, it proved safe. The psychological work he needed to overcome the bad times served him in the sweet moments, a step away from success.

The bad news for Álex Márquez is that, unlike most riders, like his brother Marc, success in Moto2 will not mean an immediate promotion to MotoGP. At the beginning of the season, when his abilities were still in question, he could not sign any contract and now he will have to wait until 2021 to make the leap. Presumably this same winter, his manager, Emilio Alzamora , will assure you a good place - will Honda dare to make him a substitute for Jorge Lorenzo ? - but it remains to be seen.

In any case, the title confirms the rise of Álex Márquez, the boy who only wanted his brother Marc's mechanic as a child. Always forced to compare and always losing it, the already Moto2 champion has managed to progress with intelligence as argument. In contrast to the innate speed of his former roommate, Alex is a colder pilot, calculator, someone who needs to square everything in place. In his first two years in Moto2, so black, he learned to use those weapons and this season he perfected them. At the moment it has already dominated all the categories through which it has passed. And he has already done it his way.

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