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.
Late-Braking MotoGP 