Miguel Oliveira reported as Honda's No 1 hope to replace Marc Marquez

According to Motorsport.com, Oliveira ‘has emerged as the favourite to replace’ Marquez after the Spanish star negotiated an early release from his HRC contract.

The late-season timing of Marquez’s exit combined with the two-year nature of most rider contracts (expiring at the end of 2024) leaves Honda with few obvious high-profile replacements.

New HRC signing Johann Zarco has been touted as one viable option, if his planned LCR Honda seat is swapped for a factory Repsol place.

The Frenchman was originally signed to fill the void left at LCR by the departure of Alex Rins to Monster Yamaha. Rins used a clause in his HRC contract that allowed him to leave early if he received an offer from a factory team.

It is suggested that a similar clause might exist for RNF's Oliveira, who is signed directly to Aprilia, potentially allowing him to join Repsol Honda if he wished.

However, when approached for comment, Aprilia re-confirmed to Crash.net that Oliveira has a contract for 2024 and, like RNF, indicated no knowledge of such an exit clause.

Oliveira, who rides year-old machinery at RNF, isn’t the only Aprilia competitor rumoured to be of interest to Honda with Maverick Vinales of the factory team also mentioned in connection with the Repsol seat.

Eight-time world champion Marquez is set to join brother Alex at Gresini Ducati next season, although a deal is yet to be officially announced.

Oliveira took the fourth of his five KTM victories at Mandalika last season, the venue for this weekend's Indonesian MotoGP.