Winning a motorcycle Grand Prix world championship is rare enough for one rider. Marc and Álex Márquez made it a family double—and then did it again. In 2014, the Spanish brothers became the first siblings in Grand Prix motorcycle racing history to both win world titles. Five seasons later, they repeated the achievement in different classes.
Two very different title races in 2014
Marc entered 2014 as the reigning MotoGP champion and immediately dominated his second season in the premier class. He won the opening 10 races, from Qatar through Indianapolis, and secured the championship at the Japanese Grand Prix. By the end of the year he had collected 13 victories, then a premier-class record for wins in one season. MotoGP’s review of his Honda years records the 10-race opening streak and 13-win total.
Álex’s Moto3 campaign could hardly have been more different. His championship remained undecided until the final round at Valencia. By completing that title run, the younger brother joined Marc as a world champion during the same season.
The FIM’s official champions archive lists Álex as the 2014 Moto3 champion and Marc as the 2014 MotoGP champion, with Tito Rabat completing an all-Spanish set of Grand Prix class winners in Moto2.
The first brothers to reach the summit
Other racing families had produced Grand Prix winners, podium finishers and championship contenders. The Márquez pair were the first brothers to each claim a world title. MotoGP later described them as the only siblings who had both been crowned champions.
Their 2014 success also showed how separate their paths were. Marc’s crown came in the most powerful class after a historically dominant start. Álex earned his in Moto3, where smaller machines, tightly packed fields and a last-round decider created a different test.
History repeated in 2019
Five years later, the same family combination returned with one important change. Marc again won the MotoGP championship, while Álex had moved up and captured the Moto2 title. Álex sealed his crown by finishing second at the Malaysian Grand Prix; MotoGP’s race report from Sepang confirms that result.
MotoGP’s contemporary account called it the second simultaneous double in five years and noted that the brothers stood alone in the championship’s then 70-year history. The achievement was not simply copied: Álex had advanced from Moto3 to Moto2, proving himself in a new category, while Marc remained the benchmark in the premier class.
The brothers have since shared teams, podiums and MotoGP victories, but their double championship years remain the cleanest expression of their unique record. One family produced two world champions in one season—then waited five years and did it again.
Sources and further reading
- MotoGP: Blood brothers
- FIM: Official world champions archive
- MotoGP: Álex Márquez crowned Moto2 champion
- AS: The Márquez brothers’ shared milestones
