Much has been said about concessions and whether they should be allowed for Honda and Yamaha, two of the manufacturers with the most history in MotoGP. Marc Márquez is clear and argues that this is essential, especially with the riders in mind, as they could have more career options, in addition to increasing competitiveness levels in general.
The former world champion, who is set to leave one of the manufacturers with the most difficulties at the end of the year to join Gresini with a Desmosedici, spoke about the importance for him of the two Japanese manufacturers having concessions: ‘For me, it is important that they have them. For me, it is important to equalize the manufacturers, especially because I believe it is better for the riders. If you have a bike that has a big difference (from the competition), riders will seek that bike. If you have some manufacturers and bikes at a similar level, then the riders will be more important’, and clarified:
– Of course all pilots are important. In the end there are eight Ducatis and the pilots have more or less the same weapons but, yes, it is good for the championship to have different manufacturers [being competitive]. Even if you are a big manufacturer, if in the end you don’t have results, you must continue to work and be in MotoGP.
Regarding whether this year had concessions, to what extent could that help him – as a Honda rider – the Spaniard clarified: ‘One thing is to have concessions, the other is to find a way to use them properly and that is not easy. In the end it is not easy to use the concessions in the right way but, when I made my decision, I already knew and was 90 to 95% sure that Honda would have concessions for 2024’.
And he concluded: ‘Of course it would help. Of course having the possibility to develop the engine, change more parameters, you have more options to reach the level and of course that would help, not only me, but the whole Honda and Yamaha project’.
