Eleven years with Honda are about to come to an end and there’s a lot of emotion for Marc Marquez, who has his last race with the Japanese manufacturer this weekend. The driver has already shed a few tears today at the end of the Sprint race, which he finished on the podium, and he didn’t hide the fact that this is a very emotional end to the year.
‘Well, I had a hard time today after the Sprint. During the weekend I’m coping very well, obviously there are more hugs than usual in the box, because that’s natural. I’m managing quite well, but today, when I was on the podium in the sprint, I saw the faces… it’s impossible not to shed a few tears. Now I have to calm down and carry on doing my job on the track, there will be time to hug and celebrate. Whatever happens tomorrow, it’s been a good weekend with the podium in the Sprint, so we’ll celebrate and give hugs tomorrow afternoon’ said the rider who has been with the team for over a decade, the only one he has known since moving up to MotoGP in 2013.
Next year marks the start of a new phase, at the controls of the Desmosedici with Gresini, with the rider hinting that a return may not be out of the question in the future, as he only has one year left on his contract:
– Obviously it’s going to be difficult to say goodbye to everyone, especially the Spanish and Italian team, with whom we have dinner every day. But also the whole Japanese team, even though there are a lot of new faces now. There’s a relationship with [Tetsuhiro] Kuwata, with Alberto [Puig], with all the team members, they all add up. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone. But it’s obvious that, in the future, I’ll try to do the best I can on the track based on the results, because if the results are good, we’ll have more doors open in every sense. My job is to give 100 per cent on the track and the good thing is that the relationship is magnificent.
Asked about his most memorable year with the team, Marquez had no doubts: ‘2013, by far. That’s where it all began, where I had the opportunity to come to MotoGP, to make my debut, to win, 2013 was worth everything, it was an incredible year. That’s where it all started, so I’m sticking with that year. Maybe, if the inertia hadn’t been the same, that year would have changed everything’.