At this point, after the past four years of MotoGP history, receiving a Repsol Honda press release entitled ‘Marc Marquez to miss X Grand Prix’ is starting to feel more the norm than the exception. And one’s arrived again on the eve of this coming weekend, with the six-time MotoGP champion sitting out the Grand Prix of the Americas thanks to the ongoing recuperation of his right hand from injuries sustained in the Portugal season opener.
But while hearing about an injured Marquez might not come as a surprise to many anymore, there’s been a change in the air of late within his camp – and a definite feeling that the current situation, and even the current relationship with Honda, just isn’t sustainable any more.
This weekend’s race at Marquez’s favoured Circuit of the Americas hunting ground will be the 27th time he’s failed to start a MotoGP race due to injury in the past 55 rounds – a remarkable absence rate of 49% since he first badly broke his arm at the opening round of the 2020 season at Jerez in July of that year.
It’s hard to separate those injuries from the difficulties of riding the Honda, too. More and more his crashes come when he pushes too hard, and asks for too much. From concussions and double vision in Mandalika after crashing in warm-up to wiping out Miguel Oliveira at Portimao by locking the front tyre, each time Marquez seems to be riding the bike far harder than it allows.
That’s understandable, of course, because if we’ve learned anything from Marquez’s recent comments, statements, and documentary series, it’s that he’s still got a substantial desire to win.
Missing out on a COTA start means missing another chance to win a race this year and, perhaps more importantly, losing another 37 points means that he’s going to have a mountain to climb should his aspirations be more about the title than about individual trips to the top of the podium.
Of course, there’s a new RC213V chassis probably arriving at the next round after COTA, the Spanish GP at Jerez at the end of the month. That chassis is one that has garnered much attention due to the fact that it’s being built not by Honda but by German Moto2 specialist Kalex – a substantial concession from HRC as it attempts to rectify its problems.
It’s actually already been used by test rider Stefan Bradl in a private outing at Jerez – and, should he (most likely) be designated as Marquez’s replacement this coming weekend, there’s a chance that it might even get a race debut sooner than the Spanish GP weekend.
But even if it brings a substantial improvement, it’s hard to see how it’ll be enough to bring Honda back to frontrunning potential every weekend. It’s a sticking plaster, an attempt to repair problems that have been created not by a bad frame design but rather by years of Honda sticking its fingers in its ears and ignoring the world around it.
The reality is that MotoGP nowadays is about aerodynamics. You can’t simply build a bike the way you always did, then attempt to bolt new wings and fairings onto it. All of that has to be part of a fully-integrated design, working together from the ground up. Honda still hasn’t realised that, it seems.
And achieving that doesn’t just require a new frame – it needs a whole restructuring of the way in which Honda builds bikes. KTM, Ducati, and Aprilia have already made that step – and you’ve got to think that that’s something that Marquez can see, too.
Other manufacturers will absolutely be interested in him right now, smelling blood in the water of his relationship with Honda. With his Red Bull links, making a jump to KTM is perhaps the most likely alternative right now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be interest from other quarters, too.
He’s contracted for another year and a half with Honda; his current, ultra-well-paid deal runs for four years from 2021 until the end of 2024. But money isn’t the objective any more for the six-time MotoGP champion, winning is. Even if that means buying his way out of his deal rather than risking another season of injury for no reward, it’s hard to see that as unreasonable.
The ball is very firmly in Honda’s court if it wants to retain the services of seemingly the only rider who can win on its MotoGP bike.
