Sachsenring, Marc Márquez’s usual garden, where he won every time he ran, marked a before and after in the relationship between the Cervera driver and Honda: something broke. The last trusted thread of 93 with his factory. After a catastrophic start to the course that has separated him from the fight for the title, accumulating crashes in the three races he was able to contest –Portugal, and after missing three appointments, those in France and Italy–, Márquez collapsed in Germany with five falls, in the last one he fractured his left thumb, cracked a rib and sprained his right ankle. On Sunday he stood up: he did not run. “I don’t feel ready,” he said, though he had the medical OK. A notice to Honda. His contorted face said it all: he was enough to Honda with all the letters.
As was the manifest gesture of rage, fed up and disconnection with Honda when doing a comb to the motorcycle, in front of the camera, in the first fall of Sachsenring on Friday.
Four days passed, he arrived in Assen, the last appointment before the break (there are no races until August 6 at Silverstone), and Márquez has made a change of chip explicit. “There is no motivation, yes sacrifice. If I’m here it’s to continue contributing to the project with a view to the future… After five crashes last weekend and so many blows, it’s time to take a step back and continue riding to gather information”. In other words, Marc is not going to gamble any more with a Honda that offers him neither guarantees, nor confidence, nor hope in the short or medium term.
He has reached the Cathedral “to the limit”, and therefore, “if you don’t feel physically prepared, you can’t find those two or three tenths when you brake as hard as possible. What I will try is to try things for Honda” – yesterday in the first tests he was 19th after another crash, his 13th in five Grands Prix – and work for the future”. Another lost year.
But what future? Insistent rumors of a break are running through the Assen paddock, especially after the meeting in Mugello (June 11) between the pilot, with his manager, and the top staff of the Japanese manufacturer, Shiniji Aoyama, executive vice president of Honda Motor, and Koji Watanabe, the president of HRC.
It transpired that the winged firm would look for solutions and promised to find them before finishing the course. On the table, the possibility that Márquez terminates his contract, which ends at the end of 2024. For this, 93 should pay an escape clause (according to sources, between 10 and 15 million for the pending year).
Officially, Márquez maintains his loyalty to the brand with which he has been a six-time MotoGP champion in seven years (2013-2019). “My predisposition is to continue with Honda and continue working. Try to evolve, see the reaction, try new pieces”. Although his hopes of improvement are minimal: “The bike is the same as at the beginning of the year.”
It is the same thing that Pol Espargaró and Àlex Márquez complained about, and this year Marc denounces it from the first tests. Thus, with no expectations of improvement for this year, the pilot and the brand entrust everything to the Misano tests, in September, in which the 2024 prototype will be tested. Will it be too late? And no matter how much improvement is seen on the bike, will it be enough for Márquez to maintain his loyalty to Honda?
Marc’s reasons are running out to remain linked to HRC in 2024. “If I can’t win with Honda, I’ll find my life,” he opened the melon last year. He reiterated it in Italy: “I will always look for a winning project, no matter the place, the name or the colors.”
Like the orange and black of KTM, the bike on which everyone puts Márquez. In Assen they assure that there have already been contacts between the Austrian manufacturer and the pilot, who, being the main athlete of Red Bull (sponsor of the official team) would have more possibilities to access the motorcycle that Binder and Miller now ride. The question is who pays for the party. And if other players such as Red Bull, Pedro Acosta (who intends to climb to MotoGP with KTM) or Dorna (who can facilitate the place for a second KTM team) are added.
