Marc Marquez won’t return for MotoGP Aragon, podium winner Alex carries baton

Marc Marquez won’t be back on the grid for this weekend’s Aragon MotoGP after Repsol Honda confirmed Alex Marquez and Stefan Bradl will continue to represent the team in Spain.

Six-time MotoGP World Champion Marquez hasn’t started a race since the opening round in Jerez when a crash left him with a broken arm and facing a lengthy period out of action.

While Marquez has never formally placed a date on when he would return, there were murmurings he could use this weekend’s race - the first of two being held at Motorland Aragon - as the location for a tentative return.

However, Honda has confirmed now that he won’t be back on the Honda RC213V, with Bradl getting another outing following his first top ten of the year in Le Mans last weekend.

Despite his absence, his brother Alex will be commanding plenty of attention as he returns to home soil once more following his spectacular charge to second position in a rain-affected French MotoGP. 

While the MotoGP rookie will look to emulate some of the form that has taken Marc to victory for each of the last four seasons, Alex admits his wet weather form demonstrates the improvements he must make in the dry to establish himself.

“It has been a nice few days enjoying the feeling after Le Mans, I want to say thank you again to everyone who has supported me or sent me a message after the race. But now it is time to reset a little bit and get back to work in Aragon. 

“Qualifying is still the area we need to work on the most as we have shown that our race pace is usually not so bad and we’re able to fight more and more each race. Let’s see what the weather brings, Aragon in the morning can be very cold so we need to pay attention to this. Let’s have a good weekend.”