In a rather terse statement about a rider that has won eight World championships for it, Honda issued the following press release. Although no surprise at this point, Marc Marquez is officially ending his contract with HRC one year early … likely to sign with the Gresini Ducati Team for 2024 to ride alongside his brother Alex. Here is the statement from Honda:
Honda Racing Corporation and Marc Marquez have mutually elected to terminate their four-year contract prematurely at the end of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season.
With a year still remaining on the four-year contract between HRC and Marc Marquez, both parties have mutually agreed to end their collaboration upon completion of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season. Both parties agreed it was in their best interests to each pursue other avenues in the future to best achieve their respective goals and targets.
Both parties will continue to give their full support for the remaining rounds of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season.
HRC wish Marc Marquez the best in his future endeavours.
Marc has shown lately when to push and when not to. I think that, even if he’s not as reckless, he has the psychological advantage of having won multiple top-tier titles. If he sniffs a podium, he’ll go for it, but if he has to finish 7th, so be it.
I’m putting money on him to win the title next year, just like in 2013 when he was a rookie on the best bike, but Pedrosa looked like he’s never quite manage a MotoGP title.
I think his 2013 odds were 8/1 at the time, from memory.
This is the story ’bout Bald-Headed john
He talks a lot ‘n it’s usually wrong
ohh darn i guess then, according to your brilliant observation(s) then that 2024 isn’t going to be as exciting as i thought.
My thought is that Honda copies Ducati aero and it works.
it’s certainly plausable and I’d like to see the other Honda pilots benefit from it…what stumps me is why haven’t they (and while having had MM on the payroll)?
i have a ‘notion’ (…just a notion you lot who you know who you are..since I too, the same as all of you lot, don’t own Honda’s MotoGp team) that Honda pulls the MotoGP pin (and maybe Repsol buys in with Ducati).
Not sure.
Strangely I’m thinking about Repsol and Valentino. Not Mick.
My 2cents. Marquez will occasionally win races and occasionally crash. He might have won at COTA this year had he been healthy, and he will always contend at his other favored counter-clockwise circuits. He won’t win the championship next year.
There are younger riders who have yet to reach their peak who will be able to, again, on occasion, beat Marquez, even on the same bike. That list includes Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira. Quartararo needs a much improved Yamaha next year to do so.
There is a substantial chance Marquez will miss several rounds due to injury. It is in his nature to take more risk than any other rider on the grid. This tendency may well be exacerbated by having a more competitive bike.
I won’t speculate on what Pedro Acosta might accomplish as a rookie MotoGP rider next year.
good stuff.
i wonder why would anybody suggest or think MM, on a great bike, will crash as much as he did on the garbage Honda?
MM simply will not be required push himself and his bike to the ragged edge as he so often did, and had to, on the garbage Honda.
in 2024, to have any hope of keeping MM in sight; Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira will indeed be required to push themselves to, what they think is [because they don’t really know…unlike MM who knows well], the ragged edge. that will be a totally new experience for them in MotoGp and i doubt they will do it or can do it effectively enough to compete with someone who has been doing it non-stop for years.
Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira will simply give up and/or crash out the same as MM did (on the garbage bike he was stuck with for years).
—re: giving up…
Martin recently stated that he doesn’t care about winning the 2023 Championship…it’s not on me to win 2023, it’s on Pecco…and so did Pecco…I’m not going to stress myself out about Martin taking the 2023 Championship. Neither has concerned themselves with winning the Championship…and they are the points leaders and heros. That is the “younger riders who have yet to reach their peak” and their entire generation in a nut shell. No F’s given…just here for social media fame. Period. MM will eat them for lunch. Period. MM wants to win and will win. MM don’t give a rats you know what about social media fame…he is old school hungry to win and will win. The others don’t really care to win, or not, and that attitude will be made clearly evident with MM’s help. they will not win.
Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira have not raced (and therefor grown as a rider) with the same level of competition that MM has (Rossi, Lorenzo, Dani, and more). *FQ did well against MM in 2019, and may have benefited from MM by learning a thing or two but that was when Honda’s bike was already falling far behind the competition’s bikes. MM wasn’t giving/showing FQ everything he was capable of due to the limtations of MM’s bike.
–Even if any one of the younger riders who have yet to reach their peak does rise to the challenge of “riding at the ragged edge” in attempt to compete with a relaxed and refreshed MM, who cares! MM will not. if/when MM also decides and feels like pushing to the ragged edge…tell me whose ragged edge is is going to be so many levels above whose? MM’s been riding the ragged edge for years. what they can do for a minute MM can do for the entire race while half asleep. it’s going to be a no contest no matter what Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira do or don’t do.
Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, and Oliveira are all spoiled(accustomed to) with modern luxuries of tech that provide an enjoyable and relaxed ride. Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira do not race like MM had to against his best competition coming in, and dominating, MotGP. MM is the last of the “Greats”. Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, and Oliveira are only good and adequate riders having the use of great equipment and have not had to compete with the likes of MM and will be unable to in 2024.
There is a substantial chance that Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, Quartararo, and Oliveira will miss several rounds due to injury if/when they attempt to step up and and compete with MM in 2024.
-I would not be so bold to sate on record that MM will not win the 2024 Championship.
Did MM not win the 2013 MotoGp Championship (in his rookie year) on a new bike?
oops, sorry…i should have also added that aside from a few passing swipes at MM from Pecco, Bez, Martin, Bastianini (when healthy, of course), Binder, and Oliveira…Rins and (a properly motivated) FQ, if they also have great bikes, will be the ones with the best chance to keep MM honest in 2024…like Dovi did for a couple years.
Who said they think Marc will crash “as much” as he did on the Honda?
No one did, actually.
What Dirck and I said was that we suspect he will crash occasionally, and that he may miss some rounds as a result of those crashes. In order for it to damage his championship, he doesn’t need to crash as often as he’s crashing now.
Case in point: Pecco Bagnaia. This championship would already be over were it not for his two recent crashes, one of which wasn’t his fault.
In Marc’s first year on this new bike, after spending a decade on a completely different type of bike, he will likely crash more often than, say, Jorge Martin will. All it takes is for one of those crashes to land him on the sidelines for a few rounds, and there goes his championship.
It’s not difficult at all to envision, knowing how much Marc loves to play with fire.
Ducati wil be in danger of the trap Honda fell into, relying on Marks skill rather than developing the bikes. It will take a while for him to be comfortable on the Ducati so he is unlikely to win in his first year on one and unlike the above views i think pecco, martin etc are great riders, not so easy to beat. It will be interesting. I think honda will be lost for years!
The article seems to imply a bit of surprise. Remember, Repsol Honda had the reigning World Champion in Nicky Hayden, but the next year he was given second tier bikes and parts.
Unlike lower-case john, I do not expect #93 to roll up and immediately wipe the floor with everyone next year. He will still crash, risk injuries, ride recklessly at times, and have his ups and downs. It’ll be his first year with an entirely foreign chassis, motor, electronics suite, aero package, crew, management team, et al. He will occasionally struggle as he learns his new ride. Everything will not go swimmingly every time.
He will be competitive, though, right out of the box, which simply was not going to be the case had he remained with Honda.
Will he win the title next year?
I wouldn’t put it past him, but I wouldn’t necessarily bet on it either. He’s certainly capable, yet he’s also capable of missing half the season following any one of his numerous learning-curve crashes.
At a minimum, I expect him to win a race here and there. Beyond that, it’s anybody’s guess.
At this point might as well put everyone on a Ducati and call it Moto 1.
We’ll finally see if win-or-bin starts more winning and less binning.
in MM’s absence, the “bar” (regarding rider skill) has been lowered (fallen down tumbled). there is no arguing that.
the bar regarding technological improvements and advancements of the bikes (minus the Japanese brands) has been raised rather nicely (and have allowed for riders to be ‘lazy’ for a lack of a better word). whoever wants to win a race in 2022/23 just has to be less lazy than the rest.
in a nutshell, the skill level of the field of riders of the past couple years is adequate to good.
good riders on great bikes beat the one great rider in the filed stuck on a bad bike.
what were you experts declaring before the break…yes I remember…Pecco, Pecco, Pecco, he’s our man!!! he’s going to clinch the 2023 Championship with more points and long before MM ever did. Wrong!!! how may Championships did MM clinch at Motegi?
Dani ‘sill’ has more talent than the current field of riders in 2023 and clearly proved what talent on a great bike can do. Dani chose not to win that race because he was satisifed to place well and have fun.
MM (more talented and hungry than DP) will not have the same such attitude/goals for himself in 2024.
We (everybody including Pecco and Martin and the rest) are going to see that “bar” quickly re-raised very high in 2024 by one great rider on a great bike. MM came up and beat the greatest riders of late; Rossi, Lorenzo, add Dani to the mix and finally the Ducti with Dovi at the controls.
How many “more” Championships would Rossi/Lorenzo have won had there been no MM? How many Champioships would DP and Dovi won had there been no MM?
Pecco, Martin, and the rest have not raced against that kind of competition…and they will not be able to touch MM on a great bike.
I like what Pecco said a while back about a brief mixer with MM…he liked racing against MM and that was fun and what racing is all about.
what he meant was it was fun to slow his bike down, slice and dice with a true great (stuck on an old slow bike), and then open the throttle back up and cruise to the, not hard fought, victory.
That’s not going to be the case in 2024 and everyone (all of the teams) know it.
MM gets any bike he wants on amy team. No one’s position is safe.
MM easily wins 2 more Championships and maybe Acosta gives him a run for a third before MM is satisfied with his accomplishments and finally retires.
Long winded nonsense.
Yup.
“Yup.”
well done John!!!
your meaningful and thoughtful participation….wow…very entertaining and enlightening. it’s good to know who and what i am addressing.
this is exactly why i visit. thank you.
I am curious though…what’s your (and Doc’s) prediction(s) for 2024?
-uhhh……Pecco gun-na win-
john is obviously a huge MM fanboy.
Too bad MM’s championship winning days are behind him.
“john is obviously a huge MM fanboy.
Too bad MM’s championship winning days are behind him”
wrong.
i have been watching less and less MotoGP because it’s become more and more uninteresting to watch due the the uninspired lot riding in it.
i care less if MM wins, crashes, or loses.
I simply find MM is the most interesting rider to watch becasue he ‘obviously cares’ wants to win.
i am not a fanboy of any sport i watch. i have 0 pieces of sporting paraphernalia hanging on my wall. my vehicle(s) do not have race car numbers/logos stickers attached. sports are entertainment for me and not my total involved all encompassing part of my life. same as my dealings with you lot.
“it’s become more and more uninteresting to watch due the the uninspired lot riding in it.”
“I simply find MM is the most interesting rider to watch becasue he ‘obviously cares’ wants to win.”
I wonder if it just doesn’t “look like” you hope it would. It cannot be argued that anyone capable of holding a seat in MotoGP could be “lazy” or “uninspired”. These guys are more rare than astronauts. As the level raises in any sport, the margins get smaller. There isn’t any room for “trick plays” as any small mistake is exploited. While the racing can appear to be a parade around the track, many of us remember when a parade wasn’t possible because by the 5th lap the field was spread out more than it is at the finish nowadays.
The sport is closer and more competitive than it has ever been in its history. While it may seem like there’s less passing it is actually much more because 10+ years ago it was much more rare for two bikes to be within striking distance of each other by mid-distance.
“I wonder if it just doesn’t “look like” you hope it would.”
-you may very well be correct.-
iirc I started watching motorcycle racing with AMA superbike/SS in the late 90’s about at the end of Duhamel’s career (long before Matt Mladin came over). I watched Nicky come from SS to SB. I lost interest in AMA superbike after NH and Spies left. I began watching WSB near the end of Foggy’s career and into Baylis’s. I began watching MotoGp near the end of Biaggi’s career and with the intro of Rossi.
Motocross/Supercross I began watching near the end of McGraths career and into RC/Bubba’s career and lost interest in it after Villapoto left but i did watch R Dungey win a couple championship.
i do not have any specific reason why I lost interest in ‘watching’ any of those sports other than I no longer found the participants particularly interesting enough to spend “my” resources to watch/track. i didn’t care who was winning and cheered for no one. hence i did ot watch. why…my guess is that they are becoming more and more just social media gamers/like seekers.
i don’t even watch MotoGP anymore…I at least track the results still though.
i do know for certain that had MM stayed with Honda or retired I would have completely lost all interest in MotoGp.
As of two days ago…for some reason…I am really excited to watch MotoGP again.
It cannot be argued that anyone capable of holding a seat in MotoGP could be “lazy” or “uninspired”.
you are most certainly and obviously correct…my difference of opinion is what the motivations of these pilots of today are. racing for glory or racing for social media likes.
i do not cling to the past in a manner of speaking. i stopped riding motor-cross and road-racing. i have a shelf in the garage with oilchange stuffs and lubes and so forth that all needs to be disposed of. I don’t even own any bikes anymore. i know that i have some riding gear spread out in the mess i call a basement and a garage but that’s it. i don’t spend time polishing my old bikes and equipment that i no longer use thinking of the past.
again…i don’t care if MM wins or loses more/less than anyone else. i just find MM interesting enough at least to make me watch the sport. the others/not so much at all.
“As the level raises in any sport, the margins get smaller. There isn’t any room for “trick plays” as any small mistake is exploited”
-again, very astute-
however, what you are describing as it relates ‘modern day’ MotoGP racing and the ‘new culture’ is the following…whoever comes out of the first corner scrum in the lead wins. Period. turn off t.v., go mow the lawn, and check back at the at last lap to see that that is exactly what happened and time and time again nowadays.
the first corner leader simply maintains the lead from the first corner until all laps are completed, barring any mistakes of course, and then claims/receives/panders for the social media rewards.
just circulate around the track.
no actual racing will take place because actual racing is now far too dangerous and impossible. don’t stress yourselves trying to race or even learn to race. that 100% is the MotoGP culture I see now and is why i’m no longer interested in spending my resources watching the sport. if that’s what you like…great.
MM’s going to a team that will give him a great bike…that i find very exciting and i will watch. i am not in love with MM or MotoGp or any other sport and it’s ‘highly skilled’ participants.
we’ll see who is the one talking nonsense.
Double dog yup
It will be interesting to watch Acosta in the main MotoGP category.
yep. we’ll see.
i do recall the rumors of the great Mav Vinales coming to MotoGP quickly followed up by his often good/great qualifying success…race success, did not, still does not, meet expectations.
Same with Fab but he did a lot better and at least he managed to win a Championship.
what has Fernandez done in MotoGP this year?
Alex Marquez?
no guarantee that 250 success translates to MotoGp success but I am expecting Acosta to fair better than the above lot did.
As far as I remember Jorge Lorenzo succeeded apart from modern greats. Pedro Acosta does not look as something outstanding. Just quick and also has a stability.
“As far as I remember Jorge Lorenzo succeeded apart from modern greats. Pedro Acosta does not look as something outstanding. Just quick and also has a stability.”
JL was talented enough to ‘make it look easy’ often times but everyone in the field was a real racer in his time.
Well, it’s certain the hero worship bar has been raised to the moon here at MD.
hahahaha…another joker/expert/MM hater.
your petty insults show exactly what class you are…again and again.
-you all know exactly what MM is going to do the entire field in 2024. decimate. it’s pretty much written in stone now.
-try to make fun of, dismiss, and insult the people who state it…how low and perfectly appropriate coming from you lot.
Wow, that’s some hero worship right there.
Insults? Read your own posts and replace MM with Chuck Norris. You sir and not a hero worshiper. You are THE hero worshipper to rule them all.
That said, I actually don’t like MM. He takes too many risks with other people’s safety. He has improved recently. But he is still the one guy out the that I wouldn’t want to share a race track with.
Another thing that I think you are overlooking in your religious zeal is that much of what made MM was his youth. When I reached my 30th birthday my weight went up very quickly even though my diet hadn’t changed. Why? Because my metabolism slowed down. My racing style had to change with it. Marquez is reaching that age and he has already shown signs that he is suffering from the age virus. He crashes instead of making those huge saves like he used to. He can’t spend all day with his hair on fire like he used to. Some tough crashes and long recoveries have not only made him less cavalier about the safety of others. But of his own safety as well. Just look where he is now. He is no longer that guy who an win on that Honda that no one else can ride. He’s willing to take a pretty hard financial hit to ride a year old Ducati because he thinks it’ll give him a chance. The handwriting is on the wall and he knows it. He is an aging rider and he is acting accordingly. That’s life. You age or you die. There is no other path.
I don’t think MM is going to age as gracefully as Rossi did. Time will tell.
For my part, I wonder about the future of MotoGP in general. It is clearly struggling. They’ll never get a dime of my money. I can’t say I would miss it if it went away. Road racing is in bad need of a rebuild.
“Marquez is reaching that age and he has already shown signs that he is suffering from the age virus. He crashes instead of making those huge saves like he used to.”
And those crashes – and injuries/slow healing – add up big time mentally too.
That said, I actually don’t like MM.
–great. i don’t know you and i don’t care about you. i don’t care about you enough to choose to make to make you happy or sad. however, unlike you and others… because I don’t know you I will not embarrass myself time and time again by arguing that you are a huge fanboy of “Mr/Ms –” or anything else.
it’s obviously, oddly, entertaining to me that you lot seem to like to argue that I am a fanboy (of anyone) like that should be an insult and/or offence. whatever…spend your time however you like.
–i actually never liked Rossi much either (well…more so after he left Yamaha) but i would never embarrass myself time and time again trying to convince a crowd of motorcycle race enthusiasts that Rossi wasn’t the top 2-3 greatest of all time road-racers (Rossi himself puts augustini ahead of himself on that list)…and that he did not raise the bar in MotoGp very shortly after his entry into MotoGp. like someone else, MM, did.
He takes too many risks with other people’s safety. He has improved recently.
–he did in fact on both counts. he also recently explained that he had to change his mindset of trying to race for a Championship and just do his best even if that (most likely) is a top 10 finish (and why do you suppose that is/was?). voil’a less crashes…as you (alone, it seems)have observed….or are willing to charitably admit.
now, to me…and i assume any other observant fan of the sport…THAT should clearly indicate that MM really, and surprisingly to a good of you lot it seems, did not actually like/prefer to throw himself and his million dollar equipment into the ground at high speed…and more importantly and relevant to recent news and this discussion…he will continue to prefer not to throw himself and his million dollar equipment into the ground at high speed (and he will not have to…any wonder why?). i guess i alone am genius enough to read between those hugely spaced lines to deduce that much.
But he is still the one guy out the that I wouldn’t want to share a race track with.
–sure. even Pecco stated he enjoyed the occasional mixer with MM.
I never liked his win at all costs approach. He’s got crazy skills, but he’s dangerous to all the other riders. His strategy of following faster bikes to qualify is ugly too. It’s legal, I get that but it’s ugly.
MM is the latest in a line of Honda factory riders who have come to the same conclusion: That when HRC gets it right, it’s as good as it gets, but . . . . when they get it wrong, they are so insularly convinced in the rightness of their engineering, they’re more than willing to let the bike kill you while moaning in back channels about how ‘he’s lost it’ and just isn’t the rider he once was.
Racing has been, and always will be a brutal business.
i don’t know that Honda has the exclusive rights to that behavior.
It’s MM ambition to be the GOAT of the modern MotoGP era, and he’s just two titles away from achieving that, and along the way, beat his greatest nemesis, VR46.
It’s not about money nor Honda. He just wants to be at the top of the pecking order while he’s still in the best form. But at the age of 30, time is not on his side. Hence the urgency to saddle a bike with the potential to win the next championship.
It will be interesting to watch how MM performs in 2024 Ducati Cup.
Will Ducati supply Gresini with a 2024 factory spec bike for MM to ride?
Yes, I agree. Who, why, would someone give up 12 mil, to jump ship? I just read that Ducati is supporting Martin with newer spec parts, its all well mostly, Ducati this year. They worked hard for this, its their time. Lets see how MM93 gels with the Ducati?
I don’t think we have reason to believe MM has taken a pay cut. When a celebrity of that caliber is in play wallets get loose.
Pramac gets factory bikes so no surprise Martin gets the newer spec parts, sometimes before the factory team uses them. I recall both Pramac riders and Factory riders commenting that sometimes they feel their testing load gets in the way of race setup development.
I expect MM will take off on the Duc right away. I won’t be at all surprised if he wins his first race on the thing.
MM’s (and FabQ) ability to adapt was proven in India as they both did very well early on compared to the rest of the field.
the Duc is a great bike. MM has great adaptability, experience, race smarts, and skills. He will easily and quickly take to the new bike.
Corps don’t care you are just a number on the payroll.
maybe Ducati creates another MotoGp team with MM93 and who else…Fabio?
anyhoo…a fit and ultra hungry MM93 on a proper fast/safe bike…the competition will not even be close enough to eat his dust.
it’s going to be an exciting, or ultra boring, 2024 MotoGp however you look at it.
“Both parties agreed it was in their best interests to each pursue other avenues in the future to best achieve their respective goals and targets.”
i understand MM93’s motivation and future MotoGp goals. Honda…not so much.
so, Honda thinks their best interests regarding their MotoGP effort is to let MM93 go?
can someone please explain to me, on Honda’s behalf, how that is?
all I can think of is Honda does not want MM93 to be wearing a Honda uniform and riding a Honda bike when he crashes and dies trying to ride the thing to a respectable finish position. Honda is better off having the other Honda pilots simply circulate safely around the race tracks as they are.
If Marquez doesn’t do any better on a year old Ducati then Honda can attempt to illustrate that their bike isn’t the problem.
sure enough.
however i’d be surprised to learn that MM93 wasn’t the hardest pushing (himself), minute by minute of every race, the most determined, with laser focus, pilot on the roster in all his races in the last couple years.
he pushed himself and his bike harder and longer than all else and when he does that in 2024 on a much better bike…it’ll be a disaster for everyone else. not having MM93 on the ol’Honda pushover is going to upset a lot of the ‘new’ ‘young’ heros of MotoGp.
all the manufactures/teams/pilots know that and they know once he gets on (adapts to too of course) a decent bike…it’ll be win after win and game over for the competition who’ve not had to compete with him.
That won’t happen. Between Dani’s departure and his injury it was clear that nobody else could ride the thing (with the exception of Rins’ lone win, still can’t..).
IT has been said that Honda never wants the rider to be a bigger star than their bike and their history of letting go of 5-star talents (Rossi, McGrath, etc.) seems to support that. As bad a run as Marquez has had these past few years he’s still the biggest star in the sport and everyone wants to see if he still “has it”. It’s become pretty clear that the Japanese makes won’t right their ships before his time is up.
I’ll be interested to see if Repsol follows him.
“I’ll be interested to see if Repsol follows him.”
I was thinking the same thing.
(why would Repsol stay with Honda?
Repsol Ducati full factory support. who is your pic for MM’s race partner?
during an interview, and in a very cordial and pleasant manner, Rossi stated that -for all he did for Yamaha…it wasn’t very nice of Yamaha that he got JL for a partner…being that JL was so damned fast- a compliment to JL.
makes me wonder who will be paired up with MM93.
I don’t think Yamaha expected Rossi to last as long as he did. These guys usually have a much earlier expiration date.
“I don’t think Yamaha expected Rossi to last as long as he did. These guys usually have a much earlier expiration date.”
agree. I was happy for Rossi in his return to Yamaha and he did well.
it’s not ‘always’ age, aches, pains, that put these athletes out to pasture.
some are quite satisfied with their achievements and are ready to happily move on with their life…and… some simply aren’t, have lost hope, motivation, and quit out of anger and frustration.
MM has experienced a lot of both but is obviously neither.
Geez, no …. thanks for the effort and sacrifice, the 8 WC titles, the hundred GP wins when no one else beside he could ride the thing. Not very magnanimous on Hondas part imo.