Marc Marquez has admitted that Honda “struggled a bit” during a crucial MotoGP test at Misano where he rode a 2024 prototype.

Speculation is rife about the six-time premier class champion’s future, with Dutch media reporting ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix weekend that a deal to ride a Ducati next year for Gresini Racing had already been done, notwithstanding his ongoing contract with Honda.

While it now appears that claim was premature, the move still cannot be ruled out given how Marquez fared in the post-event test.

He finished 14th on the timesheet, almost a full second behind pace-setting VR46 Ducati pilot Luca Marini, while the best Honda rider was LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami in 12th.

After managing to improve during the grand prix weekend, finishing seventh in Sunday’s feature race, Marquez was less satisfied about how the test went.

“The weekend in general has been very good,” he said.

“We went from less to more, which is what a rider tries to do in a race weekend, to go from less to more and progress.

“All the technical changes we made were for the better and gave me more confidence.

“That was the key point to improve our result every day and to be able to have a solid, acceptable race.

“It had been a long time since we had a good result, but our expectations were set on Monday’s test, when we tried the new bike.

“It didn’t go as expected. In fact, we struggled a bit, but we got a lot of information too.

“Now all the Japanese staff have to keep working to further improve the prototype.”

Marquez added, “We improve one step forward [in the test], but they [rivals] take another step ahead, and we are in a situation where we have to take two or three more in order to get where they are.

“We need time and patience.”

The Spaniard remains tight-lipped about his future, albeit without confirming he will see out the final year of his current four-year contract with Honda in 2024.

However, he insists he is still giving his all to the team.

“My commitment to Honda is 100 percent,” declared Marquez.

“You saw it in the Misano and other races, and you saw it again in the test.

“I’m still trying to work as hard as possible, providing data and information, and Honda is already reacting.

“We will see if that’s enough but, above everything else, what a rider values most are the facts; I mean, performance.

“And performance on track is what we are lacking at this moment.”

The next event is the inaugural Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit which hosted Formula 1 from September 22-24.