MotoGP
Together, Marc Márquez's brother Álex, assistant and best friend José Luis Martínez, and crew chief Santi Hernandez make up the núcleo duro. Meet them in the new series All In and find out more here.
There’s a narrative around extreme levels of success where so many professional athletes credit an endless variety of circumstantial moments, micro-decisions and in particular, those around them as key to their achievements. There are no silver bullets and it's rarely down to one individual acting alone. That’s why it was surprising to hear those closest to eight-time world champion, Marc Márquez, so vehemently play down their own roles in the MotoGP™ icon’s repeated triumphs and recovery from career-threatening injuries.
Marc Marquez's new show, All In, documents the toughest decision of his career. Watch episode 1 below and the full show on Red Bull TV
“He makes all the difference,” says his brother and two-time world champion, Álex Márquez. “You need the correct people around you, so for sure we have part of it [the difference], but in my opinion, it’s small because he’s on the bike and makes the difference alone on the track.”
Marc Márquez is a benchmark in MotoGP™ – the superstar. He has nothing left to prove after his six near-consecutive MotoGP titles and before that, 125cc and Moto2™ World Championships to boot. A single world title is an incredible feat on its own. It’s another thing to do it again, and again, and again… then double it once more.
To understand what keeps the #93 coming back in pursuit of a ninth world championship and potentially many more, you can find his own docu-series All In now streaming on Red Bull TV.
A comeback
Just under three years at the time of writing since his right humerus was snapped in one of the ugliest crashes in recent MotoGP™ memory, he broke the arm again during recovery while casually opening a sliding door at home. A season on the sidelines, another spent racing effectively one-handed, not to mention a separate health concern rearing its head once again in 2022, a bout of double-vision - diplopia - added to the list of career-threatening issues thrashing the Spaniard’s motivation to continue competing in the sport.
Beyond the individual mindset to overcome all that he’s been through, All In introduces us to some of the most important figures in Márquez’s life, from his brother Álex, to his assistant and best friend, José, and Santi, his crew chief since 2010. They jokingly refer to the inner circle as a ‘bunker’. In Spanish there’s the phrase 'núcleo duro', literally meaning ‘the hard core’. The point is once you’re in, you’re in.
But first, there’s a rock-solid circle of trust you need to break through to enter. “We have to be a little careful, get to know a person little-by-little and when we know them well enough, open the door and say ‘welcome to the núcleo duro!’” explains José Luis Martínez.
The best friend
Martínez has been Márquez's right-hand man since 2015. Márquez chuckles with a sense of awe at his best mate's organisational skills.
“Many things happen in my life that I don’t know about, but he knows everything. Today, for example, I just had to jump in the car and everything I need is already in here," he says. Martínez's job description is to make the rider's life as straightforward as possible.
They met in 2013 at a motocross track. Martínez is a Spanish champion in the discipline, so you can imagine that he was able to show the brothers a thing or two on the dirt. Their connection off the bike was instant and only grew from there.
It's important for a person like that, winning so much, that they surround themselves with people that know how to tell them the good things and the bad things
“We trained together a lot. And there came a time when I considered retirement from my own racing career, and Marc told me: ‘I need a guy to accompany me around the world, to train with me and basically be my right hand'" says Martínez. He didn’t need long to contemplate and accept the offer.
“It's important for a person like that, winning so much, that they surround themselves with people that know how to tell them the good things and the bad things. That's what makes him go so well, not just telling him the good things," explains Martínez.
To some, the word ‘assistant’ can come with a ‘yes man’ stigma, but this mutual respect demonstrated from those very first training days is one of the main reasons he leapt at the opportunity. Márquez accepts all inputs from those he trusts. "As we say in Spanish, ‘una de cal y una de arena’” (take the smooth with the rough), Martínez puts it.
“As an eight-time world champion, I can understand that sometimes it’s not easy for them to say ‘why don’t you improve this in your riding style because you’re losing time in this corner…’ We need to have this confidence for them to be allowed to say anything to me," remarks Márquez. Then I must accept some things that I don’t like hearing. It works the other way around, too.”
The brother
Márquez has filled his life with those that complement his strong points as well as make up for his shortcomings, and no one demonstrates that better than his brother, Álex.
“The story that describes our personalities best is from the documentary in Mandalika. He's more impulsive, he goes and goes for it. Whereas for me, with decisions, I’ll question whether it’s the right one or not," says Álex. "So he has his character, I have mine, but together we’re the perfect mix. When we moved to Madrid, he would say ‘this house!’ And I would say ‘no, wait, think about this’ and he replied, ‘Ok, that’s true. That one is a no then!’"
When one has problem, the other one tries to help and things like that. He had tough moments for sure, so we were all there to help and be with him
The nature of their relationship as brothers and each a multi-world champion in their own right has been well covered since they burst onto the Grand Prix scene over a decade ago. Alex has been on his own rollercoaster of a career ride as well since moving up to the MotoGP™ class in the same fateful 2020 season and maintains that their relationship is no stronger, nor has it fractured, given all they’ve both been through. “It wasn’t easy!” he exclaims, referring both to his own previous struggles in the premier class, as well as playing the brother role.
“It’s not been extra special [during the last three years], but just a normal brotherly relationship. When one has a problem, the other one tries to help and things like that. He had tough moments for sure, so we were all there to help and be with him," says Alex.
At home, dinner conversations are as they’ve always been about life and more often about motorcycle races that neither of them competes in, being the avid motocross fans that they are. The differences from other siblings begin in the fact that they’ve both grown up pursuing the same career, their day-to-day habits have always been rather similar, even down to the amount of time they spend on video games like Call of Duty and FIFA, battling their close friends and extended family. Beyond that, it’s in their accomplishments that we can discuss their relationship in the context of something extraordinary.
The crew chief
“For me, the team is the most important thing. I say always it’s not my team but my second family," says Márquez. That would make his crew chief since late 2011, Santi Hernandez, a key figurehead in that second family.
“I first met Marc in Valencia 2010, just after he decided to move to Moto2™. His manager at the time was building the team, so we had the first meeting then," says Hernandez.
He's an extremely experienced and well-respected technician, who's been working at Grand Prix level since the '90s. He’s maintained in other interviews that being a rider’s crew chief does not necessarily mean they become friends with a rider, but with Márquez it’s different.
“If I have a problem with the bike, I call Santi. If I have a problem in my personal life, I call him," explains Márquez.
Along with other members of his technical crew, Márquez requested to Honda that he took Santi and the rest of his Moto2™ team with him to MotoGP™. He explains the moment that he knew Santi was the right person to have in the box by his side for the long term.
Now he's more mature and has more experience, but the drive is still there
“In 2013 we were fighting for the world title and he made a big mistake in Australia. He was crying after the race because we scored zero points due to that mistake. He was crying and I, at 20 years old - a teenager still, basically – said: ‘Santi, you’ve worked in this place for 20-25 years and have never made a mistake. How many times have I crashed this year? Five races!'" recalls Márquez.
"He felt that mistake… this is difficult because he would have the same salary, everything same, he will still have the work, but at that moment he felt that. He was so upset because he cost us those points, almost worse than if he was on the bike and lost.”
It comes back to that ability to give clear feedback to one another, be it good or bad and have complete trust in the intentions and values of everyone in the group.
“I don’t think Marc has changed too much, he still has an incredible drive to achieve his targets. Now he's more mature and has more experience, but the drive is still there and so is the atmosphere he creates – in the good times and the bad," says Hernandez.
This is where it starts to become clear how Márquez is a great example of leadership. In fact, this is how Martínez finishes our interview, describing how Márquez is the one that ‘grabs the bull by the horns’ and encourages everyone around him.
These three members of the inner circle all emphasise how it’s Márquez that’s on the bike, making these extraordinary feats happen. Despite the injuries and mental torment that accompanied them, he was finding a way to bring laughter and fun.
They say that your best friends are the family you choose, add to those people the bond the Márquez brothers share with their blood relatives; parents, grandparents, and cousins, it’s as tightly knit as it gets. A sign of true unity in a group is that humility in the unwillingness to claim ownership of each other’s success. A life of true dedication to a common cause and each other.
