Awaiting the announcement from Gresini
So, this week the shoe we’ve been waiting to see dropped finally got dropped on Tuesday, when HRC released a face-saving announcement that they and Marc Marquez were terminating their relationship upon “mutual agreement.” LOL. There is nothing “mutual” about this, with HRC having been unable to deliver a competitive MotoGP bike for three or four years, and Marquez practically getting killed trying to compete on what used to be the best bike on the grid. So, one of the great riders in MotoGP history is abandoning his 11-year affiliation with one of the world’s great brands, giving up wheelbarrows full of money in order to be able to compete at the top echelon of his sport for his remaining years. In the parlor game that is grand prix motorcycle racing, this is big news.
Between 2013, his rookie year, and 2019 Marquez won six out of seven premier class titles. His personal highlight reel would have to include winning the first 10 races in 2014 and his entire 2019 season during which, other than a unforced error at COTA early in the year, saw him finish first or second in every round, scoring an amazing 420 points for the year. 2020 was the year of Covid and the first of several career-threatening injuries. It also marked the beginning of a change in the global world order in MotoGP, the descent of the two previously dominant Japanese brands, Honda and Yamaha, and the ascent of the European brands–Ducati, Aprilia and KTM–that dominate the sport today. The following sentence is one that would have been incomprehensible a mere four years ago:
Marc Marquez will trade his factory Honda ride for a satellite Ducati in 2024.
The feel good aspect of all this is that the Marquez brothers, Marc and little brother Alex, will be teammates beginning next year. Marc will immediately jump into the championship conversation again, alongside Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and, presumably, Enea Bastiannini. True, the rich (read: Ducati Corse) will get richer. But Marc Marquez has always been obsessed about winning, and if abetting the plutocratic aspects of his sport is the price, he will gladly pay it. Along with what will probably be a $20 million pay cut.
I am all for this, not being an Antman hater. 2023 has been an enjoyable year for fans with three or four riders still in the hunt in October. Marquez will increase that number; Pedro Acosta will increase it again in a year or two. It’s a shame the calendar is getting so stuffed, as that will have a deleterious effect on the riders, teams, and overall level of competition. The rationale for doing so was exposed as being bogus by a reader who pointed out that they sell maybe 12,000 motorcycles a year in all of Kazakhstan, most of which are tiny little things. We will continue to rattle on about the calendar for the foreseeable future.
Marc Marquez is now happily channeling Arnold Schwarzenegger: I’LL BE BACK.
Tags: Alex Marquez, Bruce Allen, Ducati, Gresini, Honda, HRC, Marc Marquez, motogp
Late-Braking MotoGP 
October 5, 2023 at 11:09 am |
I can believe the “mutual” aspect. Honda saves almost $20m and avoids a lot of “Honda’s so crappy that even Marquez can’t do anything on it” headlines.
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October 5, 2023 at 12:20 pm |
Honda stuck with Marquez for three years after he rode 5 days after breaking his arm, compounding the injury. This allowed the program to spiral out of control. He heals, and ditches. The only good news is maybe he will stop screwing with other riders in qualifying. I give Marquez zero. A great talent, a crappy professional.
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October 5, 2023 at 12:39 pm |
Mad4TheCrest here … (can’t give a name while commenting anymore, why?)
Marc is surely hoping the GP23 Ducati he will get is good enough to stand with the 2024 Ducatis, and be yards better than whatever Honda fields in 2024. The fact he is not bringing anyone from his crew with him is a surprise, and will be a blow to his ability to adapt quickly. He only has the one year contract, so if he flounder’s at Gresini where will that leave his options?
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October 5, 2023 at 2:47 pm |
Not sure what happened with WordPress. If you open the post, rather than the blog itself, you can bypass my approval, which is automatic anyway. I think he will do just fine on the GP23. It seems like over the last three seasons the year-old bike is better than the new one anyway, or at least not much worse.
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October 5, 2023 at 12:56 pm |
yes yeeesss! This will make things much more interesting next year! I bet Pecco is already scared. Marc can simply do things on a motorcycle that others can’t
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October 5, 2023 at 1:17 pm |
I’m sure it was a negotiated settlement. MM didn’t just leave all that money on the table. Alex has been a disappointment for Gresini and I wonder how long they will be teammates.
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October 5, 2023 at 6:50 pm |
Ha, I’m probably going to make Bruce mod me because no matter where I click I go into the queue. Long time no see – my WordPress account disappeared as well, so I’ve been watching the action from the sidelines. Seems that every weekend there’s been a race this year I’ve had something on the agenda and haven’t been able to watch – but I’ve been keeping up with the news via Crash.net and my friends.
Gotta say that this silly season has been just as silly as usual. The only surprise here is that Fabio Quartararo hasn’t done a Marquez at Yamaha. Dude doesn’t even pretend that he’s having fun any more. I’m happy that Frankie managed to jump ship and stay in the paddock, it will be interesting to see if he manages any brilliance on the Duc next year. And now all we need is to see if Jack Miller can keep his seat, although it sounds like Augusto Fernandez is getting the chop for Acosta.
Now that winter is arriving I should have time to actually watch the last few rounds, and I’m SUPER happy that mah boi Jorge seems to have gotten his mojo back. I used to like Pecco until he turned into a whiny brat, so if Sir Martin steals his lunch money this year, I won’t be unhappy ’bout that. It’s gonna be a dogfight, just as well I have beers in the fridge.
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October 6, 2023 at 3:13 am |
How many cars are sold for the 9 months 2023 in Singapore? Answer is 17600. And for example how many of them are Haas, Alpine, Alpha Tauri, Williams, Red Bull? Answer is 0. The same for the hole world.
Dorna’s job is to sell show, people to buy tickets, sponsors get bigger coverage. Thats how capitalism works. I dont understand the hate againt new track like Kazakhstan. Even I`m shure 99,9% of americans the only thing they knew about Kazakhstan is the name.
And good luck to Marquez. Maybe he sorted out his mental problems. For 3 years crashing like crasy and staying home he started to achieve result only when calmed down. Now we will see if Peco, Martin ant Bez are realy good or just average on the best bike.
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October 6, 2023 at 10:08 am |
I am probably alone in having enjoyed Marquez finishing down in 9th. The years where races were a parade every single time, with Marquez leading a pack of riders for 22 laps certainly reduced my interest in GP. Hopefully Pecco, Bezecchi, et al are fast enough to keep that situation from returning.
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October 6, 2023 at 5:51 pm |
Well, I would rather see him ride for Gresini than see him kill himself crashing the Honda.
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October 8, 2023 at 12:55 pm |
Even if one is an Antman hater, you have to give him props for giving up a HUGE amount of money to be competitive again, especially since it’s the ugliest colored bike on the grid.
Starmag
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