Marc & Alex: Brothers & champs

VALENCIA: A day after wrapping up his second MotoGP season with his second world title, Marc Marquez was back at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo -this time to give his younger brother Alex a taste of the machine that has made him the phenomenon that he is now.
Alex, who won the Moto3 title on Sunday, took a few laps in the Honda RC213V with his brother Marc following him all the way.The ride was a gift from Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) for winning the world title. "I am very happy to have tried the MotoGP bike. Yesterday, I fulfilled one dream and today another came true. It's not every day you can try a bike like this," an excited Alex said here on Monday evening.
Before taking his younger brother on the track, Marc coached him thoroughly about the nuances of the MotoGP bike in the Honda garage.
The world champion, himself only 21 years of age, wished someday both the brothers will be able to ride in the same class together.
"It will be really nice for me to one day race against my brother and I hope that it's with the same team. I do give him a lot of tips and secrets but I don't know if that'll be the case in a few year," Marc said with a big smile on his face. The young Spanish rider has made it a habit to break records. He is one of the only three riders to have won the world title in three different categories, the first one since 1978 to have won the MotoGP title in his rookie season and finally a record 13 wins this season.
"There was no pressure to break records. Mick (Doohan) reached the mark of 12 after competing in just 15 races, we have about 18 now, so it's much easier," a modest Marc said.
The Marquez are a small working class family from a village called Cervera which is about an hour's drive from Barcelona, who bought Marc a young 'pee-wee' bike at the age of just four. There has been no looking back for them ever since as they now have two world champions in their household.
"We are like any other normal family .When I was a baby they gifted me a bike and they were always there to catch me and support me," the MotoGP champion said.
Younger brother Alex considers Marc his 'teacher'. "Marc has always been my teacher. It has always been easy for me to follow him. I hope to keep on learning from him," the 18-year-old Alex, who progresses to Moto2 next season, said.
Asked how he prefers to relax away from the track, Marc said, "I always like to stay at home when I am not racing. I prefer to go to nice beaches with my family and friends. Also, I love watching football and Barcelona are my favourite."
Next target for Marc will be Kenny Roberts' record of winning the world title in his first three seasons and the way HRC have been progressing that record is very much within grasp.
"I felt a lot of pressure this year but I tried to convert that into motivation. People only burden you with expectations when they know you can do it," he said before signing off.