Is Marc Márquez Jumping Ship?

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Marc Márquez returned to the top step at the German GP. (MotoGP/)

When rumors started circulating in August about eight-time Grand Prix champion Marc Márquez moving to Ducati, it seemed like a surreal but juicy possibility. Would the strongest rider of the last decade move over and ride the best current motorcycle on the MotoGP grid? However, all the factors, like his relationship with Honda and their six MotoGP titles won together, a big salary, and most importantly a contract already in place through 2024, surely makes one think that he would stay put despite the poor results with his underperforming RC213V.

Will Márquez remain in the Repsol Honda box in 2024? (MotoGP/)

Surprisingly, however, instead of denying the rumors, Márquez fueled them. In a game similar to the carrot-and-stick analogy, on the one hand he stressed the importance of working together as a team on the development of the new 2024 bike, and on the other he continued to buy himself time for other options to be worked out.

Despite the rumors, Márquez continues to work on solving the issues plaguing the 2023 RC213V. (MotoGP/)

After testing the new 2024 development bike on Monday after the Misano race, and making it clear that he was not impressed, the Spaniard stated that he had three options in front of him for 2024 and beyond. He also said he would communicate his decision between the Indian and the Japanese GP. That didn’t happen. So we expected that he would make an announcement at Motegi in favor of staying with Honda.

That hasn’t happened yet either, with Márquez stating: “I will not announce my choice in Motegi, because I will have to be 100 percent focused on the track.”

At the postrace Misano MotoGP test, Márquez tried out the 2024 development bike, and stated that it was still far off the pace. (MotoGP/)

That statement could mean he’s leaning toward the Gresini Racing team in 2024, where he would join his brother Alex. If he was 100 percent sure and planned to stay at Honda, Motegi would have been the ideal place to put all the rumors aside at Honda’s home Grand Prix at a track that it owns.

If Marc decides to move over to Gresini, he will have to negotiate a way out of his contract with Honda. We don’t actually know what his plans A, B, and C are, but according to the Spanish press, Plan C could be an even more bizarre scenario: Marc would ask to be allowed to transfer to Gresini Racing without penalty in exchange for his return to Honda in 2025. Of course, meanwhile the Japanese manufacturer would have to make a competitive bike.

“In the end, only results count,” Márquez has often reiterated. At the age of 30, he wants to return to winning, no matter what.

Could Marc make the jump to Ducati and join his brother Alex at Gresini Racing? (MotoGP/)

This year you are struggling so much, how do you face the race weekend?

“I am approaching every weekend as usual even if the bike is quite unpredictable from track to track. I arrive with no expectations, trying to understand the level of the bike and from that point, finding [a way] to give the best. In Catalunya, for example, we were one-second slower than the top guys. We finished the race 21 seconds behind the winner. In Misano we did a bit better (13.5 seconds ahead of Joan Mir), but we are still far [off].”

Before the summer break you stated that you didn’t want to take more risks if the bike is not up for the challenge. Will you change your approach in this second part of the season?

“My approach doesn’t change: I keep on working with my guys in the garage, trying to find what is best for me. Then as a rider I do a step behind [back]; I’m taking the risk only when I feel [OK]. In a way I’m fighting against my own mentality. Then my work is to keep the same routine as in 2018 or 2019 in order to be ready when the occasion is there.”

How do you stay motivated when the results are not coming?

“For me there is no meaning to being in MotoGP for so many years if there are not the conditions to fight at least for the top five or top seven positions, because otherwise as a rider I don’t have fun. All athletes enjoy when they are in the front. In this moment I’m still the fastest Honda rider, so I try to keep the motivation in this way, but for the future I really hope to fight for the top five to top seven positions.”

Pecco Bagnaia’s tremendous crash reminded us how dangerous motorsport is. How did you cope with it?

“It’s difficult, especially when you have to go back on track as happened in Barcelona. As we returned to the garage, the TV showed the incident, fortunately we could see that the worst was excluded, but still the images of the crash were replayed too many times [19 times]. When I am at home and I look back at the race, I skip the incident because as a rider, you don’t want to see it.”

What were your first impressions of the new 2024 bike tested at Misano?

“The riding style is quite different, especially the riding position, but the problems are still the same. Considering that it is a new bike, lap by lap we tried to adapt, but the way you look for the lap time is the same as the current machine. We started in one direction, then we changed to fit more my style, it became better, but the lap times are the same.”

What is different on the 2024 Honda?

“The engine is the same, while the chassis and the geometry are new.”

Did you expect more?

“Misano was only the first test. Of course, I was expecting more but if this is the pace of the bike, we are far [away from competitive]. There were many new engineers in the garage. Now they have our comments and they will work on it. There is not so much time as the next test is scheduled in two months in Valencia after the finale.”

Did you speak with Honda about your future and even the possibility to split ways and go to Gresini?

“I didn’t touch this subject with Honda, because I don’t think it is good to do it while we are all working on the same project. Honda is working hard for this season and also for the next one. If you have a contract with a manufacturer, I think the worst thing to do is to threaten them saying you will change brands. I think it’s worth continuing with a constructive mentality. I think the best for the project is to continue united together, to continue working and I think they agree, as they didn’t tell me anything [different] in this respect.”

What about Gresini racing?

“My brother has found his place. It’s a professional team with a familiar atmosphere. It has a long history and for him is ideal, but me and my brother come from different experiences. It’s another story.”

Is there something that Honda could say during the Japanese GP that would convince you to remain for next season?

“In my mind I am quite clear. I never said right or left. I just said I want to find the best solution and I want the best for the project. That is where we are working together because my relationship with Honda is special. We have been many years together. They gave to me a lot of things, I gave to them a lot of things.”

At age 30, what is your target?

“I want to be world champion, and to make it you need a team behind you with the same goal.”

Editor’s note: Honda has been faithful to its rider despite the crashes—too many, but not all his fault—and some bad decisions, like Márquez’s choice to race only 48 hours after a surgery following his 2020 Jerez crash that then put him out of action for the better part of a year.

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