The year 2023 will forever be marked as the one in which Marc Márquez put an end to a decade at Repsol Honda. And there are reasons for that: it was his worst season ever, unable to work “miracles” with an RC213V that was one of the least competitive bikes in the field.
The season started with the Portuguese GP, which began encouragingly: the Spanish rider took pole position and finished third in the Sprint race. However, everything changed for the worse in the main race, where he triggered a spectacular accident with Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia).
The result? An injury to his right hand and a double Long Lap penalty in Argentina. A reprimand that ended up not being enforced because he did not compete in the Termas de Río Hondo race, sparking a controversy over interpretation: should he be penalized in the GP of Argentina or in the next GP he competes in?
Be that as it may, at the time Márquez had no problem acknowledging the fault for the incident: ‘I made a big mistake in turn four, in the first part, and this created everything. […]. I was penalized for this and I deserved it‘.
The injury kept the Spanish rider out until the French GP, where he was fighting for a podium when he crashed less than two laps from the end. Another retirement while fighting for the podium in Italy.
In Germany, Márquez had an incident with Johann Zarco (Pramac/Ducati) in the second practice session, causing a new injury that kept him out for the rest of that round and the Dutch GP.
The situation was worrying: by the end of the first part of the season, Márquez had not yet completed any main race, and the situation continued at the British GP. However, from then on, there was a change in approach.
The six-time MotoGP champion started to take less risks, focusing on accumulating kilometers and trying to develop the bike as much as possible. He only failed to finish two more main races and the “icing on the cake” was the third place in the Japanese GP, at Honda’s home.
An emotional result in harsh conditions imposed by the rain, which Márquez commented on in a press conference: ‘Of course it was an important podium. We were looking for it all season, it came very late, but it arrived at Honda’s home circuit on a day when I took advantage of the situation, of the weather conditions‘.
At that time, Márquez’s departure was already confirmed, announced in mid-October – heading to the Gresini satellite team next year. Until the end, #93 still managed a third place in the Valencia GP Sprint race – he retired from the main race after a touch from Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), in an inglorious farewell from Honda.
When it was time to “say goodbye”, Márquez spoke about his departure from the manufacturer: ‘I say, and perhaps other manufacturers won’t like to hear it, but this will be the team of my life, of my career. I won six world titles and several victories, I won’t reach these numbers with another manufacturer. Honda will always be the most special team in my heart‘.
Ahead, Márquez has Gresini, where he will ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP23. Despite being cautious and not aiming for the title, his natural goal is to show that he can still fight at the top with the right material. Will he succeed? The answers will come from March onwards.
Marc Márquez’s 2023 season:
Portuguese GP: 3rd Sprint/Retirement GP – 11th in the championship
Argentinian GP: Absent due to injury – 16th in the championship
Americas GP: Absent due to injury – 18th in the championship
Spanish GP: Absent due to injury – 19th in the championship
French GP: 5th Sprint/Retirement GP – 19th in the championship
Italian GP: 7th Sprint/Retirement GP – 18th in the championship
German GP: Did not race – 19th in the championship
Dutch GP: Did not race – 19th in the championship
British GP: 18th Sprint/Retirement GP – 19th in the championship
Austrian GP: 10th Sprint/12th GP – 19th in the championship
Catalan GP: 11th Sprint/13th GP – 19th in the championship
San Marino GP: 10th Sprint/7th GP – 19th in the championship
Indian GP: 3rd Sprint/9th GP – 16th in the championship
Japanese GP: 7th Sprint/3rd GP – 15th in the championship
Indonesian GP: Retirement in Sprint and GP – 16th in the championship
Australian GP: 15th GP (no Sprint) – 16th in the championship
Thai GP: 4th Sprint/6th GP – 14th in the championship
Malaysian GP: 21st Sprint/13th GP – 14th in the championship
Qatari GP: 11th Sprint/11th GP – 14th in the championship
Valencia GP: 3rd Sprint/Retirement GP – 14th in the championship
