Toprak Razgalioglu's placement at Pramac by Yamaha for 2026 showed that the combination of an age approaching 30 and a lack of proven past time as a MotoGP frontrunner need not be an impediment to strong manufacturer interest.
And that should be good news for a rider who, like with Razgatlioglu, you can so easily talk yourself into a high-upside case for - even if their two careers have precious little in common beyond two world titles each.
Alex Marquez revitalised his badly stagnating MotoGP career with a move to privateer Ducati machinery in 2023, but his ceiling for future MotoGP accomplishments remained - at least in the eyes of yours truly - that of a occasional grand prix winner and standout strictly restricted to privateer seats.
Maybe the best privateer seats, sure, but the younger Marquez could not offer the projection of his Ducati peers like Jorge Martin or Marco Bezzecchi or Enea Bastianini - and the last time he was truly linked with a works seat was a long, long time ago.
While I still see his MotoGP 2025 title challenge as the longest of long shots assuming full race fitness for every party involved in the contest, Marquez's transformation this year deserves a reevaluation of his market value.
And while Razgatlioglu joins Yamaha on a prove-it Pramac deal to show he can adapt to MotoGP, Marquez must now be a consideration for basically all of the non-Yamaha manufacturers (given the famous, occasionally disputed story of how he could've been a Petronas Yamaha rider only to be blocked from the move) for their factory teams.
It's a bold claim, but it's warranted by what we've seen on track in 2025 - a season that has cast Alex Marquez the MotoGP rider in a new light.
Suddenly you look back at each of his earlier seasons and recognise the hindrances: the pressure of stepping into a suddenly Marc Marquez-less Repsol Honda seat (it's not like many have done better in that seat as of late) as a rookie; the two years wrestling with non-compliant Honda machinery at LCR; the Ducati adaptation in 2023, the badly outmatched GP23 in 2024.
In all likelihood he has the best motorcycle on the grid at his disposal right now, compared even to the factory Ducatis, but it is unmistakable that even in that context he looks better than he's ever looked.
Marc has put him in the shade, sure - but this can also apparently happen, with shocking ease, to a two-time MotoGP champion.
It is hard to track a rider's performances through the season and weigh everything equally - some things are remembered more easily than others - but the points table is singing Marquez's praises right now.
And to try to strip away that Ducati effect a little bit, if I tally up how he fared in my regular post-race rider rankings feature (which is not to say I am some supreme arbiter of true performance, but it at least paints a picture that covers all rounds), the numbers feel genuinely striking.
The Race MotoGP rankings championship*
1 Marc Marquez - 132
2 Alex Marquez - 118
3 Fabio Quartararo - 86
4 Johann Zarco - 84
5 Pecco Bagnaia - 70
*scored by MotoGP point system
The Race MotoGP rankings by average rider position
1 Alex Marquez - 4.4
2 Marc Marquez - 4.8
3 Fabio Quartararo - 7.4
4 Pecco Bagnaia - 7.9
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio/Ai Ogura - 8.5
Having the best bike on the grid helps avoid being dragged through the coals by pundits like me - you simply do not have to risk error as much to get a Friday Q2 spot or a respectable finish.
But either Marquez has been transformed or the GP24 is simply showing what he is capable of when in comfortable, fitting surroundings - and either way it is a valuable conclusion.
He has not been unimpeachable - Qatar was rough, Le Mans unravelled a little bit - but I don't think the Gresini team has had any cause, at any time this season, to leave the track feeling, 'Man, Alex really let us down today'. And with the amount of races and other sessions that matter, that's quite remarkable.
He has been capable and effective in wheel-to-wheel action, largely without overstepping the line. And he has been remarkably efficient in sustaining performance over a race distance, something that felt the biggest doubt coming into the season aside from big track-to-track performance variance.
Why shouldn't this be the real Alex Marquez? This is the guy who won Spanish Moto3 in a season that also featured Pecco Bagnaia, was fourth in his first Moto3 grand prix season behind the excellent triumvirate of Maverick Vinales, Alex Rins and the late Luis Salom, and then won the title the second time of asking. Yes, Moto2 took him five years - but Moto2 can be a harsh mistress. So can the MotoGP midfield.
Yes, there is no shortage of good free agents around for 2027, but also no shortage of factory seats to fill. Some factories will miss out on their first choices. Some will miss out on their second, too. Some are seemingly in the process of being left at the altar.
Talk of, say, Marquez replacing Bagnaia at Ducati feels insulting but I don't know that Marquez's market value should be that much lower than Bagnaia's for 2027. Somewhat lower, yes - but you're only as good as your last race.
It is crazy to say about a rider second in the world championship, but there might be surplus value in Alex Marquez. There might be an Andrea Dovizioso-like second half of his premier-class career coming up. There might be more. There might be less - but you take that same risk with any young stud from Moto2. Give him a call.
