Honda MotoGP squad “will be the team of my life”, says Marquez

The eight-time grand prix world champion will race for Gresini Ducati next season, after a miserable 2023 campaign forced him into leaving Honda with a year still left on his contract.

Marquez has raced every year of his MotoGP career with Honda, beginning with his debut in 2013, and together they’ve won six premier class titles and notched up 59 wins.

Since making the announcement that he will be leaving Honda, Marquez has never closed himself off from the prospect of returning one day – though in Valencia in November conceded this “will not only be my decision”.

“I never want to close the doors,” he said, when asked if returning to Honda was a consideration for him if the circumstances within the manufacturer improved.

“For that reason, I say in the past in some interviews, and I’ll say again: the relationship with Honda has been amazing and when we decided to change our journeys, to finish our relationship, it was because both parties agreed.

“We have full respect with that because I don’t want to put the situation into a very critical moment because I like to have the door open to Honda.

“I say, and maybe the other manufacturers won’t want to listen, but Honda will be the team of my life, of my career.

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

“I achieved six world titles and many victories. I will not achieve this with another manufacturers, those numbers.

“Honda will always be the most special team in my heart but we will see if we can cross again our futures. It will not only be my decision.”

Marquez’s place at Honda in 2024 will be taken by Luca Marini, who signed a two-year deal with the Japanese marque.

Joan Mir raved about the 2024 Honda brought to the Valencia test after the season, noting that it was the first time he tried something on the RC213V that actually worked.

Marquez’s Ducati debut at the test ended with him just 0.171s off the pace in fourth on the timesheets.