Alex Marquez Jokes About 'Curse' of 13 Different Winners at Silverstone, Targets Second Win

Alex Marquez says he is ready to fight at MotoGP Silverstone this weekend, but he jokingly admitted he would rather avoid becoming the 13th different winner at the circuit. The Gresini Racing rider arrives in Britain with a target on his back after an impressive showing at Silverstone last year and a victory at Jerez this season.

Ahead of the race, Francesco Bagnaia tipped Marquez as a main contender, given his pace at the Silverstone circuit. However, there is an intriguing fact: if Marquez wins this weekend, he would be the 13th different winner in MotoGP history at Silverstone since the circuit returned to the calendar in 2010. That number 13 is what Marquez lightheartedly joked about.

“I will try,” Marquez said about his victory potential. “But they said to me in the MotoGP interview that I will be the 13th different winner. Somebody needs to repeat. I win Saturday. 12 plus 1. That will be nice. But, you know, we'll see. We start the weekend in a normal, relaxed mode and then, if we make the work in a good way, for sure we'll have some options.”

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Marquez also explained why Silverstone has been so diverse with its winners in recent years, citing last season's weekend where he was fastest in Saturday's Sprint but weather changes on Sunday made lap times nearly two seconds slower. “I think here it's quite crazy because last year, for example, on the Sprint on Saturday, I was the fastest one and having a lot of margin to win on Sunday also. But then from Saturday to Sunday, the weather changed a lot, so windy and everything, and our laps on Sunday were like nearly two seconds slower than Saturday. So, you know, I think that explains how and why every year here is different,” he said.

Despite that, Marquez acknowledges that Silverstone's fast and stability-demanding layout suits his riding style, while also favoring Aprilia—the manufacturer that won last year with Marco Bezzecchi. “We'll try to make our best weekend. But here it's true that, normally on the paper, the Aprilias will be quite fast for the characteristics of the circuit. It's really fast. You need to have a lot of speed, a lot of stability, and they have. But also it's a track that I switch a lot to my riding style. So we'll try our best and then, after the sprint race, we'll see if we have chances for the Sunday,” he concluded.

With promising form and fond memories at Silverstone, Marquez is clearly a serious threat to the rivals. Will he manage to break the trend of different winners? We'll see his action this weekend.

Reported from Crash.net, Alex Marquez hopes to be competitive and fight for victory at MotoGP Silverstone 2026.