Jack rubs shoulders with MotoGP superstars in Spain

JACK Burrows received an unexpected surprise during a pre-British Talent Cup test session in Spain when he got to not only meet MotoGp super stars, Marc and Alex Marquez, but share the track with the two former World Champions.

Spain’s Marquez brothers became the first siblings ever to win MotoGP world titles in the same year back in 2014 when Marc won the premier class and Alex was crowned Moto3 champion and the duo are currently first and second overall in the 2025 season after Marc won the two opening rounds with younger brother Alex second in each.

Initially, Jack had no idea either of the Marquez brothers would be at the Aspar Circuit near Valencia at the same time as him but he was delighted that the serendipitous incident unfolded. And he was just as pleased to not only get the chance to share the asphalt with his heroes but to discover they were nice people too.

“It was unreal,” 15-year-old Jack beamed. “We didn’t know they were going to be there until we saw the van pulling up and I said to Dad [Burrows Engineering by RK Racing team owner, John] ‘that’s Marquez’s van!’ and an hour later he showed up.

“He was so approachable, he couldn’t have done enough for you, him and Alex were the same and I was on track with both of them at the same time and I got a video with Alex but the Marc video was the best to be fair!

“I was on my Moto3, Marc was on his Ducati V2 and Alex was on the R6 [Yamaha] so they had a wee bit more grunt than me but through the corners I was able to stay there or there abouts but out of the corners, they just went!

“It was an unreal experience and it was great that they turned out to be so nice and approachable.”

While getting to rub shoulders with the stars was one thing, Cookstown High School pupil, Jack was in Spain to get ready for his second season in the British Talent Cup and he feels he’s in a good position to score points regularly in 2025 after bedding in last term.

“I cannot wait to get going because I feel in a better place going into the season this year, I feel a lot more confident on the Moto3 and having been to all the tracks, having ridden them before, I feel that I’m on a more level playing field,” he said.

“The goal this year is points ever round and just keep building on what we scored last year.”

Ahead of the British Talent Cup getting underway at Donington on May 18th, Jack will say sharp and get race ready by competing in the opening three rounds of the Ulster Superbike Championship next month.