Marquez side-steps question on Honda exit clause: “I can’t think about this”
The six-time MotoGP champion has confirmed that, after two injury-plagued years, he is pleased with his physical condition ahead of the 2023 season.
But he left the preseason Sepang test bemoaning his Repsol Honda machinery, saying: “It isn’t the bike I need to win the championship - I need another step”.
Marquez was asked by Sky Sports before the test whether a clause existing in his Honda contract which would allow him to walk away at the end of this year.
“I can't think about this before I start a season,” was his reply.
“I have a two-year contract and I want to win, possibly with Honda."
Marquez sits at No1 in the list of MotoGP rider salaries and is contracted to Honda until the end of 2024.
His brother Alex Marquez’s departure from LCR Honda to Gresini Ducati has added an intriguing subplot, creating the storyline that he could follow to the Italian team.
Marquez also said to Sky: “After four years I had a quiet winter even if I still had to work a bit on my shoulder. In December I did a treatment that was useful to not make me feel any pain and that allowed me to work well in January.
“I'm very happy with how I'm physically, even though I'm not 100% yet. However, the body has worked well in recent months. The goal is the Portimao race, I still have a month and a half."
But Marquez was left nonplussed with his RC213V in Sepang.
He called on Honda to iron out the remaining problems at the final preseason test in Portimao before his attempt at a seventh premier class championship begins.
“We don’t have time to bring three bikes,” Marquez said about the Portimao test. “It is important to choose one direction, one bike.
“It is the same as the Valencia bike, same concept, same problems. Now is the time to fix problems. I don’t know how. I just give my comments.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
