The lack of confirmation from Marc Marquez on whether he intends to continue racing for Honda in the 2024 MotoGP fuels speculation about a shocking Gresini Ducati switch.
As MotoGP approached for its San Marino Grand Prix weekend at Misano, the possibility of Marc Marquez making a dramatic Honda exit in 2024 to ride a satellite Ducati sparked a great deal of stir in the paddock.
On Thursday during the San Marino Grand Prix, the rumors that were previously dismissed as rumors gained momentum. Some media publications even said that Marquez had already made up his mind to leave his Honda contract one year early.
Marquez, who has six MotoGP titles with Honda, is now racing under a lucrative four-year contract that runs from 2021 to 2024.
Despite the fact that rivals like Ducati and KTM have consistently downplayed their interest in trying to pry the MotoGP legend out of his current contract, the largely uncompetitive and, more importantly, tremendously unpredictable Honda RC213V has incresased the possibility of Marquez getting out that contract.
Honda’s position on the performance issue has been that Marquez will be permitted to leave if he so desires. However, this public position obviously does not cover off the monetary compromises that must be provided in order to break said contract, with it widely rumored that Marquez would need to not only forfeit his 2024 salary but also pay a very significant break clause.
Nevertheless, Marquez began to drop massive, surprisingly amusing hints about his MotoGP plans upon arriving in Misano, despite the fact that he had been so evasive on leaving Honda.
Marquez revealed to Spanish TV station DAZN that he already knew where he would be racing in 2024. While this is usually a fully harmless remark for someone who is under contract, it was a change from what Marquez had previously been willing to disclose to public.
Following that, on Thursday, to the delight of fellow MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo, he posted a cryptic message on social media with the words “están pasando cosas” that means “things are happening.”
According to Speedweek, Marquez will pair up with Gresini and his brother Alex, and Red Bull will serve as one of the primary sponsors.
Marquez has a legitimate chance of joining the Faenza-based squad, and that is nothing new. Racetrackmasters.com is aware that it will be a greater challenge to finalize the deal, nevertheless. Meanwhile, the other two sponsors of Marquez, Repsol and Estrella Galicia, are yet to negotiate an escape clause with Honda.
Alberto Puig is compiling a list of technical experts in the crucial fields of present-day bikes (aerodynamics, electronics) that Marquez has requested the Japanese manufacturer provide him.
The former MotoGP racer has one week to persuade the candidates he believes make the best additions, and once the list is complete, he will hand it over to Marquez.
Both the eight-time world champion and those in charge of HRC are skeptical that the RC213V prototype, which will be tested on Monday in Misano and will serve as the model for the 2024 prototype, will represent the conceptual shift that he has been vocal for.
Actually, that bike’s engine won’t be any different from the ones that have been utilized on bikes this season thus far. Stefan Bradl who is the manufacturer’s test rider, is scheduled to begin riding that particular 2024 machine on Friday.
When questioned directly about the likelihood of breaching the deal with HRC, Marquez continued to speculate about his potential future options without committing to any of them.
“I have not touched this subject with Honda; I think it would not be good for the project right now,” he replied, underlining “the project” on several occasions, but without stating whether he will be part of it.
“My mentality with Honda is constructive, to look for the best for the project and the best thing now is to continue united, working.
“And I think they interpret it the same way because they haven’t said anything to me,” added the rider, who was then asked to offer his point of view on Gresini. “It’s a team with a lot of history; with bikes that go very well, in which my brother has found his perfect place.”
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport, Alex Marquez responded to a question on the possibility of his brother Marc joining him at Gresini Ducati in 2024 by saying that he believed it would be difficult for Marc to break his contract with Honda and that learning to ride the Ducati would be challenging.
“I think to speak about this is like the rumours that we have,” Alex Marquez said. “Three, four races ago, he was going to be on a KTM.
“You know what I mean? Now he’s on a Ducati ‘for sure’. We will see.
“There are many rumours about Marc, [Joan] Mir. But they have contracts. So, this is really difficult to extract [from].
“I will go for the possibility to maybe have Augusto [Fernandez] here or something like that, more than Mir or Marc, because I think to break a contract in MotoGP, I know that it’s really difficult.
“So, honestly speaking, if he comes to Ducati, he will be fast. He’s Marc, he’s eight times world champion.
“He didn’t lose the speed. We saw it in Q1 in Montmelo. But it will not be easy, he will need time for sure.”
