The 2017 world champion and vice-champion, Franco Morbidelli and Tom Lüthi, left for MotoGP, the way now seems clear for those who shone alongside them throughout last season: Miguel Oliveira, Álex Márquez, Francesco Bagnaia, but also Mattia Pasini and Brad Binder.
Before the championship resumes, we invite you to learn a little more about these drivers by showing you their journey. (Portraits in five parts)
Alex Marquez
If Miguel Oliveira is the big favorite for the Moto2 title, we must not neglect the rise in power of Álex Márquez who fought for a long time alongside Franco Morbidelli and Tom Lüthi last season to win the overall, and who will be a strong opponent this year.
Born on April 23, 1996 in Cervera, Spain, Álex Márquez fell into motorcycling when he was little. He owes his passion for motorcycles to his brother Marc, three years older, whom he followed from a very young age on the circuits. Admiring his elder, he wants to do like him, and naturally begins to ride to imitate him. He who, as a child, only dreamed of being a mechanic so that he could accompany his big brother on races, ended up being caught in his turn by the passion for driving.
Promo Racc 50cc then 70cc, Mediterranean PreGP 125 Championship, Catalan Championship… from 2004 to 2009, Álex competed in different competitions and won titles before arriving in CEV (Spanish Speed Championship) within the Monlau team in 2010. He won his first victory in his second year and fought for the title which he lost due to a fall during the last race. He nevertheless finished vice-champion, and was favorite for the 2012 season.
With his experience and having learned from his mistakes, he fought all season in the leading group and won the title of champion of Spain. At the same time, he made numerous wild cards in the Moto3 World Cup before doing the entire end of the season in parallel with the CEV.
In 2013 he completed his first full year in Moto3 in the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team and immediately established himself among the strong men in the category. He scored his first podium mid-season, on the Indianapolis circuit, and won his first Grand Prix in Japan. In addition to an excellent fourth place overall, he was crowned Rookie of the Year.
His team changed manufacturers in 2014 and decided to move from KTM to Honda. Far from being handicapped by this change, Álex adapted very quickly and won three races and ten podiums. Long an outsider against the Australian Jack Miller who dominates the category, his consistency allows him to take the lead in the championship at the end of September. He was finally titled world champion during the last race in Valencia, a month after the coronation of his brother Marc in MotoGP. Both thus become the first brothers to each win a title in the same year in sixty-six years of championship.
Álex arrived in Moto2 in 2015 with the Marc VDS team but had two complicated seasons with many crashes. Despite everything, he achieved six top 10s during his first year with a fourth place as his best result. Hoping to play for the title in 2016, his numerous errors in the race penalized him.
At mid-season, the team decided to continue to trust him for 2017, and this signing was saving: he regained confidence and had a very good end to the year by landing his first podium in the category.
Although he continued to make mistakes and crashes in 2017, he took the very first victory of his career at Jerez before winning again in Catalonia and Japan, and reaching the podium three more times. He fought for the title for a large part of the season and finished fourth in the championship.
If Álex Márquez manages to find the same consistency in 2018 that he demonstrated in Moto3, and which notably allowed him to win the title in 2014, he could do wonders this season...
Previously: the portrait of Miguel Oliveira.
To be continued: the portraits of the three other contenders for the Moto2 title.
