• Alex Marquez is confirmed as Marc Marquez’s part in Repsol Honda for 2020.

• It ends speculation that the brothers will be riding in one team.

• The seat was left vacant by retiree Jorge Lorenzo.

Prior “wild speculations” of Alex Marquez joining his brother Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda team for the 2020 MotoGP season has been confirmed.

Younger brother Alex is the 2019 Moto2 champion, while Marc in the eight-time world champion (sixth in MotoGP) including this year.

Alex had long being compared to the exploits of his brother, much like how it was for the Schumacher brother in Formula 1. The younger sibling finally captured his first Moto2 title this year.

However, both Repsol Honda manager Alberto Puig and Marc denied that drafting in Alex was because of the Marquez namesake. Puig had commented earlier that it would be based on merit. Marc Marquez, on the other hand, insisted that he didn’t push Honda to take to Alex.

Speculations were rife as soon as after Jorge Lorenzo announced his retirement from racing, thereby vacating his Repsol Honda seat. There were “talks” of Johann Zarco getting the tap over LCR Honda riders Cal Crutchlow or Takaaki Nakagami but it was not to be, despite the fact that Zarco was a two-time Moto2 champion.

LCR Honda will stick to their current rider line-up for 2020. Despite being a satellite team, Crutchlow is actually under HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) contract, while Nakagami brought in Idemitmu as one of the team’s main sponsors.

That leaves poor Zarco without a seat. His only options are to join Avintia Ducati (which he already said he didn’t want to) or return to Moto2 and take up Alex Marquez’s seat at Marc VDS.