2023-10-12 11:00:41
“For my sports career and my mental health”that is the argument that Marc Márquez used today at the Mandalika Circuit to try to explain the reasons that led him to leave his lifelong team, the Repsol Honda Team, to compete in 2024 on a Ducati satellite of the Gresini Racing teama structure that this morning took advantage of the start of the Indonesian Grand Prix to publicly announce the signing of the Catalan driver with a view to the next campaign.
The #93 is being one of the most sought after faces on Thursday in Mandalika, and has been one of the first to go through the Motogp.com microphone to analyze this not easy move for a Márquez who will try to repeat the feat they already achieved in the past Geoff Duke, Giacomo Agostini, Eddie Lawson, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner: to be world champion with two different manufacturers.
“It has been a very complicated decision, especially last week was an emotionally hard week,” The eight-time world champion has started. “Everything was decided there (in Japan)on Tuesday night I took the last step and decided, on Wednesday we already had a call with Japan and we informed them, and the statement came out immediately, on Wednesday afternoon,” remembers the Catalan.
Before communicating his decision to HRC, Marc met with several key figures at Motegi to understand the next steps in the development of the RC213V, and it was then that the #93 understood that his factory was still far from recovering lost ground: “In Japan we held several meetings. I think they need time for their project, they need to put all their budget into the (new) bike, and they have to keep moving forward, because Honda is Honda, and I believe they will achieve it. When? “I don’t know, but they will get it because it is the biggest brand in the world.”
The eldest of the Márquez family does not hide that saying goodbye to Honda “It was a tough decision” based on a single key aspect: “My sporting career. I want it to continue for many more years, and for that I needed to rediscover that excitement of coming to the races, to have fun on the track, to ride a MotoGP. “That’s what I’ll try to do next year.”confides the man from Cervera.
More than a decade with the same colors, the same faces inside the box and a motorcycle made to measure – at least until 2020 – is a “comfort zone” from which Marc has had to leave early: “To be honest, at Honda I was very good, they have always treated me very well. We had an incredible relationship for eleven years, I had everything under control and knew where the bike was going, a good salary, everything helped“.
“But I have prioritized my sports career,” points out #93. “I did it looking for that fun, I chose the Gresini team. I signed an agreement in principle this morning, because we had nothing advanced, and I have simply confirmed that I will run with them. “Now we have to refine details to see what we can do in 2024.”
The Spanish rider thanked Nadia Padovani’s team for all the patience in blocking the Italian team’s second bike until Marc finally made his decision: “We had already maintained previous contacts, Gresini has respected me a lot and they have given me all the time I wanted. “My priority was to stay at Honda, but I had a bigger priority, my career and my mental health, I wanted a positive mentality next year.”
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Márquez believes that a part of the fans will see “strange” his movement from an official team to another satellite, but he is very clear about it: “I am the rider and I know what goes through my head and what I need. Of course I had other options, but I just want to enjoy the bikes again, the last few years have been very complicated due to my injury and performance on the track I believe and think that Gresini is a family team, Ok, I will ride a GP23, but it is a winning bike that is now fighting to win, The top three finishers have that bike. “Now I just want to enjoy these last six races with Honda, and then we’ll see what I can do with the new bike.”concludes the still Repsol Honda Team rider.
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