Australian Grand Prix legend Mick Doohan doesn’t believe Marc Marquez can win another MotoGP crown with Honda.
The five-time premier class champion lifted each of his titles with the Japanese manufacturer on the Repsol Honda during a sparkling career in the 500cc GP class, but
Doohan thinks Marquez would have a better opportunity of challenging for a seventh MotoGP crown with a rival marque, such as KTM.
One more title would put Marquez level with Italy’s Valentino Rossi on seven championship successes, but the 30-year-old’s last world crown was achieved in 2019, with a combination of injuries and an underperforming RCV thwarting any prospects of adding to his current tally.
Doohan stayed loyal to Honda during his career in the blue riband class but says the manufacturer has clearly fallen behind its major rivals.
“Honda have seemed to drop a couple of steps behind and trying to catch up is now difficult,” Doohan said.
“Whether that was part of the Marc Marquez crash [at Jerez in 2020] and then being delayed to come back, they have lost their way a little bit, who knows … or that was the start of why Marc started to crash.”
“Equally, Honda knows how to get themselves back. I think they just need to focus on it,” he added.
“Technically speaking they’ve always been strong but you need to get the passion to go racing.
“Racing isn’t just about numbers, it’s about passion. In the years gone by that’s why I stayed with Honda for as long as I did.”
Doohan feels Marquez can become a MotoGP champion again, but only if he makes the switch to different machinery.
“He’s had a great relationship with Honda but it’s a working relationship and it’s business,” he added in an interview on MotoGP.com
“His business is motorcycle racing and he needs the right office to go into work.
“Right now Honda is not it. For instance, if he was on a KTM it would be interesting to see what he could do.
“I wouldn’t say a Ducati because they have so many riders. I think he’s got the potential to win another championship but the years are passing him by pretty quickly now,” Doohan reasoned.
“He needs to focus on what Marc wants to do and if that’s to stay with Honda and develop them out of this position then that’s good as well, as long as Honda are going to commit to go racing.
“But to just make up the numbers, I don’t think he wants to be there [to do that].”
Marquez finished a lowly 11th in the MotoGP Sprint race at the Sachsenring at round seven of the championship on Saturday.
It was the first time he lost a race in the premier class at the German track, where he has won 11 times in total in 11 visits throughout his GP career.
Marquez is 18th in the standings, 125 points behind Francesco Bagnaia after the German Sprint race.
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