Repsol Honda team manager Alberto Puig said the Japanese manufacturer must convince Marc Marquez to see out his contract in 2024 with ‘facts’ rather than words.
Marquez finished seventh in the San Marino Grand Prix to secure his best Sunday result of a below-par 2023 season.
On Monday at Misano, he is set to test a 2024 prototype RCV, which HRC test rider Stefan Bradl rode to 18th in the Grand Prix, finishing 18th as LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami took 19th and last.
The six-time premier class world champion has been linked with a move to the Gresini Racing team to ride a Ducati alongside his brother Alex next year, and Monday’s test could prove pivotal in determining Marquez’s decision on whether to stay with Honda or seek out a completely new challenge.
Speaking to DAZN, Puig said: “We have a contract with Marc and he hasn’t told us anything.
“It is obvious that our situation is bad. It is very important to give him a bike he can trust next year.
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“It is Honda who has to convince Marc to stay, and not in words but with facts.”
HRC is understood to have agreed to hire European engineers from other teams to help with the development of the RCV and convince Marquez that it will solve the problems affecting the Honda, primarily relating to a lack of traction and acceleration.
Puig continued: “I perfectly understand the frustration Marc may be going through and also that he talks to other brands.
“At a technical level it is clear that we are quite far from finding the solution. When you change something, you can change it little, which is like doing nothing, or you can make a radical change.
“That’s why we are thinking about a radical change.”
Puig, though, said that Marquez would be free to pursue alternatives if he decides his future does not lie with Honda, even though the 30-year-old is contracted for 2024.
“Honda is not a company that forces anyone to race for it,” Puig said.
Ducati’s sporting director, Paolo Ciabatti, said any potential deal for Marquez to ride a Desmosedici next season was a matter for Honda and Gresini, seemingly ruling out any direct involvement with the factory.
“I don’t have much to add,” Ciabatti told DAZN.
“Of course, as has been said, it is an independent team.
“Normally when [a team move] is talked about in the paddock it is because there is a minimum of truth.
“For us, we are in a situation where we know that, in principle, the two Repsol Honda riders have contracts for next season and what is happening is more between them, Honda and Gresini.
“What can I say? Nothing else.”
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