Marc Marquez says “I don’t get a bonus”, offering a clue about season-finale plan

Marc Marquez says his battle for third in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship is “of zero importance” to him and he ‘doesn’t get a bonus’ for doing so.

Coming into this weekend’s season finale at the Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona, Marquez is one point clear of Enea Bastianini in third in the standings.

It’s a battle that will rage to Sunday’s grand prix, with Bastianini - about to begin his Ducati farewell - saying on Thursday that it’s “important” for him to finish third in the standings.

But Marquez, when asked for his opinion, said on Thursday: “Believe me, but it’s of zero importance, the third place.

“No, I don’t have any bonus for the third place. Zero importance. Maybe for Enea, I don’t know his contract.

“But, for me, it’s of zero importance. I mean, you remember who finished third in 2022? Or 2015? I finished third but nobody remembers.

“So, I mean, that third place is not changing my life.

“My life changed with the goals I achieved this year. It’s true that these last two races I had the speed because I noticed and I tried to increase that risk, because I said ‘Ok, now I want to increase that risk to see what happens’.

“But I risked too much and I lost two races, I fell down in two races in a row.

“So, let’s see this weekend what we can do but my goals are already achieved. It’s more important to finish in a good way for the team, than for me.”

This weekend’s 20th round of the season will be Marquez’s last with the Gresini squad before he replaces KTM-bound Bastianini at the factory Ducati team.

With Gresini, Marquez returned to winning ways after a miserable end to his time with Honda and “found the perfect family” to rejuvenate his MotoGP career.

“Yesterday we already had an emotional dinner, because it’s like this: Gresini has become a super important team in my career in only one season,” he said.

“And I found the perfect atmosphere to be reborn, like they say on the social media, to feel again that I’m competitive and I found the perfect family, perfect atmosphere with my brother as a team-mate, with the team like they were working always in the same way.

“So, the best way to say thanks will be to try to do a good weekend this race and try to finish in a very good way.

“But as I said to them yesterday night, you never know in the future. So, it’s a team that is super professional and you can achieve what you want with this team.”