After a 2022 that saw yet another operation with an attached long recovery period, 2023 wants to be the year of rebirth for Marc Marquez, ready to throw himself back into the fray to confirm that these three years have not even scratched the slightest his talent.
The competition is getting stronger and, in the meantime, the rival manufacturers have made important steps forward, with Ducati setting itself as the absolute reference allowing Francesco Bagnaia to win the title. On the contrary, with and without Marquez, Honda has experienced an extremely complex period, in search of technical potential that has gradually diminished.
Despite an uninspiring pre-season period, Marquez nevertheless remains optimistic for the season. At the moment the RC213V is clearly not a title bike, he won’t be able to win consistently as was the case until 2019, but the Spaniard wants to keep pushing to bring the Japanese manufacturer back to the top.
“In the end, we are a team, we win and we lose together. The last three years have been very tough for me, but also for Honda. We are not arriving in the best situation and it is fair to say that, at the moment, we are not title contenders”, admitted the eight-times world champion during the press conference of the first round in Portugal.
“We have to keep working to build this project and be more competitive in the future, but my ambition is the same as in 2013: they’re the ones to fight for top positions, but with what I have in hand, anything is possible. I believe in this project, I believe in Honda, and sometimes the situation can change overnight. We saw it last year with Pecco: he didn’t get off to a very good start, they had had problems in testing, then from one race to the next he began to show a good level by winning many Grands Prix”.
If the tests at the end of 2022 had already left a bad taste in Marquez’s mouth, because he was aware that Honda hadn’t made the hoped-for progress, the 2023 pre-season tests were further confirmation. However, there is no shortage of reasons to look to the future with a little optimism, starting with the elements tested and the new figures who have joined the team.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“It’s been a really challenging winter because we’ve tried so many different things. We changed technical director and then we brought new ideas to the pits. We worked on some concepts. The only day I worked with the bike itself was the last day in Portimao, but we found ourselves there with strong riders”, added the rider from Cervera.
“We’re a little behind them and here in Portimao we probably won’t be able to fight for the podium or the win, but the championship is very long. I will have to work hard to improve myself and the team is working to improve the bike. In the end, Portimao didn’t go too badly, we got quite close, especially in terms of race pace, we were very close compared to the stronger riders”.
“It is clear that Ducati now has a very strong package. All the Ducati riders, but especially Pecco, who was the fastest in that group. We are far from Ducati, but we are working in our garage to try to improve some areas, which are essentially the same areas where we struggled last year”.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In an attempt to get back on track, Honda has also begun collaborating actively with other suppliers, such as Kalex, which last year in the Misano tests had created an aluminum swingarm for the Japanese company. In recent days, rumors have also spread that the test team will carry out a private test in Jerez in which a new frame also made by the German company will be tested, about which however Marquez has not revealed too many details.
“As for the Kalex swingarm, I tried it at the Misano test. As for the chassis, I have no news, I haven’t heard anything and they haven’t told me anything in the pits, I don’t know if they are working on it or not. But we have to continue in all areas”, explained the Spaniard, also explaining the points on which the team must concentrate in view of the new format, in which qualifying will be even more fundamental.
“The engine is sealed, so we have to work on that, however we have to investigate all the other areas to try to be more competitive, especially on the flying lap, because qualifying will be very important this year. If we don’t have the right position on the grid , we will start from behind in two races, so we have to push.”
In fact, for 2023, Dorna has decided to radically change the format of the weekend, adding a sprint race to each appointment, which will be contested over a length that will be equal to half the laps of the Sunday race.
Marc Marquez, Squadra Repsol Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
An appointment that Marquez welcomed both with enthusiasm, because it will be one more opportunity to duel and have fun on the track, but also with a certain skepticism, as it will increase the stress for the mechanics and for the riders during the weekend . In fact, the weekend will be far more complex from a physical point of view and there will also be less time to find the right set-up before hitting the track for the sessions which, to all intents and purposes, will add points to the standings.
“Honestly, I like sprint races, but I think the weekend program is too demanding for the riders, because Friday already counts for qualifying and in the end, free practice two is a qualifying session to qualify for the same qualifying. I think it’s too demanding to do 21 races plus sprints with a weekend like this,” added the Honda rider.
“However, I look forward to these sprint races with enthusiasm, I think it will also be interesting for the spectators. But as Dorna said, when it introduced this calendar, there will obviously be a Safety Commission in the future and we will try to adapt the calendar considering these factors”.
“Certainly the favorite rider at the moment is Bagnaia and, now, we’re too far away to think of how we can stop him. We have to keep working to get closer, then we’ll think about it.”
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