Marc Marquez, who finished 11th in Saturday’s Sprint, almost 12 seconds behind winner Aleix Espargaro, took another step back in Sunday’s MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix, crossing the finish line in 13th place , despite the crashes and withdrawals of the riders preceding him, finishing 21″6 behind the winner, Aleix once again. An abysmal gap.
Although a few years ago this result would have been an unprecedented disaster, today the situation seems to have normalized at Honda and it can even be said that Marc got busy and fought for some overtaking, just for fun.
“No, you don’t have fun at all, you suffer all the time. You suffer all the time and above all you use routine, effort and sacrifice, but the race lasts an eternity. The others overtake me and I try to answer, at least for reassure me that I tried. I went jerky, a rider passed me and I pushed to follow him, but then I calmed down because I was exceeding the limits and so as not to fall. When the two of the VR46 passed me and I saw that there was too much risk, I decided to finish the race and bring the bike back to the garage,” he explained.
The platform that holds the television rights to the MotoGP in Spain has recently announced that when asked if Marc has decided his future, the Honda rider replied: “Yes.” If someone has decided where he’s going to race, if he’s with his current team, he usually says so. If he leaves the scenario open, it could be understood that Marc is playing one last card before the Misano test, but today he said that’s not the case.
“No, I have pretty clear ideas about what I want to do, and in the end it’s looking for the best solution for the Honda project. Trying to keep working, improving, continuing to the Misano test and being constructive there, providing good information for them and try to grow at all times. This means looking for the best compromise for 2024 and starting the year well. But I can’t wait to see the bike to start working for next year”, was the answer.
More than the test bike, which Marc already knows isn’t a “rocket”, what the rider asked is for Honda to hire high-level technical personnel, and this weekend the people in charge of finding him were already busy with this job.
“In these situations, it’s not up to the rider to expect. If a brand like Honda, when it sees results like today, when it sees the statistics, doesn’t realize… (that it has to make changes), it’s something that falls under its own weight. Obviously, as riders, both myself and Joan and all the HRC staff at the track ask for improvements. But I think they have to be the ones who want to improve, because I don’t think they want to see their brand like this weekend, in the bottom four in almost every session”.
Speaking of the accident at the start of the Grand Prix, which caused a red flag and a restart, Marc celebrated “the luck we had with Pecco Bagnaia’s crash, which was very dangerous”, and which luckily ended without serious injuries for the Italian Ducati rider.
Before that, a crash by Enea Bastianini, who tried to enter where there was no space, caused a multiple crash in the first corner.
“Sometimes there are mistakes that cannot be avoided, such as that of Bastianini or Pecco, who fell by himself without meaning to. No one wants to fall or make a mistake like Enea’s. When you do you are penalized, you learn and there is no need for further pressure, because the pilot himself is already pressed by his mistake”.
Finally, Marc was asked about the renewal of Dani Pedrosa, with whom he has been a teammate for many years, as a KTM tester. After underlining the Spaniard’s great qualities, Marc added that “having Dani in any team and in any position, as a test driver, sports consultant or whatever, would be one of the most suitable people.”
Marc Márquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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