After a decade, Marc Márquez left Repsol Honda in MotoGP. It’s a significant change for the Japanese team, which for several years centralized the development of the bike on the six-time champion of the premier class – a strategy that ultimately cost them dearly and led them to lose their way in recent years.
In 2024, the riders are Joan Mir and Luca Marini, who are not intimidated or overshadowed by the weight of following in the footsteps of a success like Márquez’s. At the team presentation, Mir stated:
– The truth is that I didn’t think about him all year. It’s more about what is expected from the outside, what people talk about. But here the goal is to be back on top and to take this team, regardless of who has been here and which rider has been with this team in recent years. With or without him, we have to give it our all, and that’s it.
As for newcomer Marini, he spoke of a new era for Honda starting this year: ‘I think that Marc represented a part of history with Honda and did great things. This is what I also want to do, so I am very focused on my work, and I think a new era for Honda has just begun’.