Honda “did nothing” with its MotoGP bike during Marc Marquez injury layoff in 2020

LCR MotoGP team boss Lucio Cecchinnello says Honda “did nothing in terms of development” while Marc Marquez sat out the 2020 season with injury.

Eight-time world champion Marquez and Honda dominated much of the 2010s, with the partnership winning the title from 2013-2014 and 2016-2019.

Marquez’s 2019 was his most dominant, as he won 12 times and finished second at every other race bar one to win his sixth premier class crown by 151 points over Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso.

But the RC213V was proving difficult for the rest of the Honda stable by this point, with only Cal Crutchlow able to get to the podium in 2019 alongside Marquez.

When Marquez badly broke his right arm at the opening round of the COVID-affected 2020 season, Honda endured its first winless campaign in the premier class since it returned full-time in 1982.

With Marquez plagued by further injury woes through 2021 and 2022, Honda steered bike development in a way to try to better suit its entire roster.

However, in this time up until the end of 2024, Honda has three winless seasons in the past five.

In an interview with GPOne, Cecchinello - who has fielded Honda bikes since 2006 in MotoGP - opened up on how much Marquez’s injury layoff hindered HRC.

“The bike with Marc was fine, he was able to cope with the special front of the Honda and used a harder tyre than the others,” he said.

“An example is the race at the beginning of the 2020 season; in Jerez he overtook everyone, then he lost the front and after getting back on the bike he showed a great comeback.

“Then Honda said to wait until Marc recovered, but as we know there were complications.

“During Marc's absence, we did nothing in terms of development while the others continued to develop their projects.

“The work started to move more towards aerodynamics and in 2021, when Marc did some races, he then reported on the progress the others had made.”

Marquez left Honda at the end of 2023 as the bike’s form failed to improve, with the Spaniard joining the Gresini Ducati squad for 2024.

Last season, he won three grands prix - his first since 2021 - and signed a factory deal with Ducati for 2025.