Marc Márquez was the face of the Repsol Honda Team for several years in MotoGP, giving the Japanese manufacturer many world titles and being responsible for the development of the RC213V. Alberto Puig ensured that HRC’s policy was never to keep someone against their will, while also guaranteeing that there are ‘many riders’ who want to race with the team.
Honda’s Team Manager spoke to AS about the former rider’s future and said there was never any intention to force the rider to stay, immediately stating that the vacant spot is something many riders are interested in: ‘If a rider does not want to race with our bikes or may be happier elsewhere, our philosophy is never to force a rider to stay just because of that. We have many riders who want to race with us if they are happy and everything is going well’.
Puig then said that the future of development will continue and that Honda has big plans for the future, which now, however, will not arrive in time to have #93 as part of it: ‘We have some very interesting plans for the future. They are not in time in the case of Márquez’.
Honda continues to search for the future rider to take Márquez’s place and many names have been mentioned, with Miguel Oliveira apparently as the top candidate, but with Maverick Viñales, Aleix Espargaró also as names on the table or even riders like Fabio Di Giannantonio or Jake Dixon, who have also been pointed out in a very specific list.
Johann Zarco, who signed with LCR Honda for 2024, is also mentioned as a possibility to move to the factory team, something that Lucio Cecchinello has already said he does not want.
