The incredible bonus money Marc Marquez has missed out on due to injury
Marquez has already missed out on a total of €2,281,800 (£1,984,949) for the four MotoGP rounds that he missed before Le Mans, according to Spanish media Cuatro.
His return to Le Mans at the weekend will therefore be welcomed by his bank manager, as well as by MotoGP fans.
His bonus scheme is to be paid €570,450 (£496,487) per race to enter, the report states.
Marquez can also claim an extra €1.4m (£1.2m) if he wins the MotoGP championship.
This is all on top of his estimated €12.5m (£10.9m) annual salary paid by Honda, plus sponsorship earnings
Last year Marquez missed eight rounds, the first two due to diplopia (his vision issues) and then six due to major arm surgery.
This season’s four missed rounds were due to the hand injury picked up in the first grand prix of the season at Portimao.
Marquez is widely-known as the highest-paid MotoGP rider on the 2023 grid.
He is contracted to Honda until the end of 2024 by which time some interesting conversations could take place.
On one hand, Marquez is desperate for a bike which will allow him to compete for a seventh premier class championship.
Conversely, his age and his mounting injury history mean that rival manufacturers - Ducati or KTM, for example - might think twice before sanctioning the money that Marquez might demand.
Jorge Lorenzo’s verdict? He believes that Ducati will offer Marquez a contract for 2025 on much less money than he has been accustomed to, meaning the six-time MotoGP champion must make a difficult call - earn less money for a better bike, or stick with Honda…
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
