Marc Marquez suggested Honda return ‘if your rider finishes top five in 2024’

Marquez has confirmed he will bring an end to his 11-year spell at Honda at the end of 2023, when it is expected that he will join Gresini Ducati on a one-year deal.

The six-time MotoGP champion “promised, before his Japanese bosses, to return in 2025, as long as Honda prove to have taken a step forward in 2024 and once again have a competitive motorcycle,” El Periodico report.

Marquez suggested he would come back to Honda “if one of your riders simply finishes in the top five at the end of the next world championship,” the report claims.

His offer “surprised the top of HRC” but was then “flatly rejected”.

Honda want to begin their post-Marquez era by trying to improve without using his possible return as an incentive, it is reported.

The offer from Marquez was a part of “sincere and open” conversations with Honda bosses Hikaru Tsukamoto and Koji Watanabe.

Although Tsukamoto and Watanabe’s stance was described as having “a point of rigidity” when negotiating with their star rider.

Marquez is likely to become a free agent in 2025 (as he would’ve done if he honoured the final year of his Honda contract in 2024).

It means he could have the pick of the best bikes in MotoGP after one year on a Ducati.

If Honda battle back to the top of the sport in the year that Marquez is absent, don’t rule out a spectacular reunion.