The first part of the 2024 season was a nightmare for Marc Marquez, who arrived at Silverstone with the intention of turning over the next page. Between crashes and injuries, the Honda rider hasn’t yet managed to finish even one Sunday race and when hostilities resumed he put away a paltry 15 points.
The summer break, therefore, was fundamental not only to heal his physical wounds, but also those of his morale, also making him understand that the only thing to do to recover from what he himself defined as the worst moment of his career is change the approach with which he arrives on the track: winning immediately is not possible, so we need to make sure that it can become something concrete in 2024, increasing the potential of the RC213V. Because he was also categorical about market rumors: next year it will still be in Repsol colors for him.
In the conference that opened the weekend of the British Grand Prix, the eight-time world champion started from his physical condition: “In Assen, immediately after the Sprint, I decided to stop and even the doctors told me it was the choice better, also because the rib problem wasn’t just a crack, it was a real fracture and it moved a lot.I was able to put myself back together during the summer break, although it is true that my right ankle and right leg they are still going as I would like, but there will be time to find the rhythm. Let’s see if we can start off in the right way, with a different approach, but in a positive way in this second part of the season”.
Then he moved on to the approach he wants to use in this second part of the championship: “During the summer break I was able to think a lot and my conclusion is that in the first part of the season our approach wasn’t the right one, because we were trying to win races and to fight for the title, but we are not ready. We have to work together to be ready in the future, so I will have to approach the second part of the season in a different way, trying to be more realistic about our current performances. But also working together to improve the project, which means rider, team and bike: we must all work together to build a better future”.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
For someone who has always been used to winning, making this click shouldn’t be easy, even if a very positive moment in his private life is helping him in this sense: “I already said at Assen that I’m in the most difficult moment of my career. There was the injury, which was a very difficult situation on a physical level, but now it is on a mental level. It is a difficult moment in my professional life, but I am in one of my best moments in my personal life, with beautiful people close to me and a nice atmosphere when I train. I also fell in love and they are all things that help and compensate a little. I get the motivations from the people close to me and also from the team, which has been close to me for all these years”.
Once again then, he tried to sweep away the rumors that he would leave Honda at the end of the season, a year before his contract expired: “For next year I have a contract with Honda Repsol, the goal is to continue to improve in the second part of the season, especially to test the new bike in the Misano tests and all these things.However, MotoGP is constantly evolving, so if we want to be competitive in 2024 we have to start working on it in 2023 We have to find the solution to fight for the title in 2024, that’s our only goal.”
Indeed, he reserved a small caress for his brand, while explaining that this weekend there won’t be too significant news on his RC213V: “Honda is working hard. They did some tests with Bradl at Misano and Jerez and they tried a few things. But at the moment it has been decided in Japan that I will start with the bike from Assen, there will only be a small update in terms of electronics. I know there is a new aerodynamic package on the way, but it hasn’t been homologated yet, so We still have a lot of work to do, but I’m here with the team to try to improve for the future.”
Finally, he was asked what Honda should do to try to counter the European manufacturers and regain the dominance it once had: “It’s difficult to say, because it seems that the European manufacturers are a little more aggressive. It’s true that the pandemic has not helped much, because for example in the case of Honda the technicians have been forced to live in Andorra for a long time. And it is not the same thing to be in the factory or to work remotely. Apart from that, Honda has always been the best constructor, so there’s the potential to turn that around.”
#MotoGP #Marquez #categorical #contract #Honda