Marquez hints at Honda future

Marc Marquez has suggested he will continue as a factory Honda rider in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship after speculation over his future.

The six-time premier class champion has cut a frustrated figure as his Repsol Honda team’s struggles continue this season.

Recently, Honda team manager Alberto Puig added fuel to rumours that Spaniard Marquez could look for a way out of his lucrative contract, which runs until the end of next season, when he said no rider would be forced to stay if they didn’t want to.

This week, it was confirmed that LCR Honda’s Alex Rins would make the switch to the rival factory Yamaha team as a replacement for Franco Morbidelli, whose contract has not been renewed. Rins, who ended HRC’s win drought with a shock victory at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas in April, had been expected to stay in Lucio Cecchinello’s satellite team.

For now, Honda’s star man Marquez is at least publicly committed to seeing out the remainder of his contract with Honda.

Speaking at Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix, he said: “Next year I have a contract with the Repsol Honda team. The target is to improve the bike, and also at the Misano test (September 11).

“It’s not like I heard, ‘just wait in 2023 because 2024 is another year’. MotoGP is a constant evolution.

“If you want to perform well in 2024, you need to start now in 2023. We are working together to improve the project.

“In 2024 we need to find the best for 2024, for Honda, to try to fight for the title. This is the only target.”

There has been talk of a potential move to KTM, a story that gained traction with both Marquez and the factory team sharing Red Bull as a major sponsor.

But during the summer break, that possibility appears to have become less likely, while the 30-year-old’s age is understood to be a prohibitive factor for world champions Ducati.

Marquez has endured an injury-hit season so far, with the former champion finding himself in the gravel too often in his quest to make up for the RCV’s shortcomings.

At Silverstone on Friday, he failed to make the Q2 cut-off in practice, ending the day in 13^th position, albeit as the top Honda rider.

Marquez now seems resigned to treating the rest of this season as a development phase in the hope that Honda will provide him with a machine capable of mounting a title challenge next year.