Could Marc Marquez take a year off from MotoGP in 2024 instead of seeing out his four-year Honda contract?
It seems unthinkable for a rider who, at 30, is keenly aware that he is on the clock in terms of adding to his considerable reserves of premier-class silverware – but is more logical in the context of MotoGP factory contracts and the rides available in 2024 versus 2025.
And with Honda, first through MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig and now through Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe, on record as suggesting that Marquez could be released from his deal for 2024 if such was his desire, that too makes a sabbatical seem more plausible.
Such, at least, is the view of long-serving MotoGP manager Simone Battistella, best known for overseeing the careers of Marquez’s premier-class championship rival Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati’s current World Superbike dominator Alvaro Bautista.
“Honda has always been pretty open saying they will never hold a rider if he doesn’t want to stay,” said Battistella during an interview with Toby Moody in a special episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast.
“And they did release Jorge Lorenzo a few years ago – although he still had a one-year contract with them, they did release him.
“It’s difficult to judge it from the outside. For sure, the only way to convince a rider like Marc to stay with Honda is to show him that there is a project that is very serious, there is a very detailed plan, and convince him that this is the plan to go back and win a championship.
“All the rest counts for nothing – to the point that Marc might even stay home for one year.”
Except for Yamaha, which has a particular history with Marquez and might anyway not represent much of a competitive upgrade relative to the Honda, every other manufacturer in MotoGP has two riders under works team contract for 2024.
Of course, Marquez himself is under contract, and the general principle of contractual flexibility is to be factored in, but none of Honda’s rivals have publicly expressed an interest in pursuing Marquez for 2024. Ducati and KTM have been particularly firm in their denials – though KTM’s Francesco Guidotti did leave the door somewhat ajar for 2025.
“Marc is an incredible rider,” Battistella continued.
“I went to Portimao for the first race, and I love to go to the service road to watch them, although I’m no technician and haven’t been a rider myself so I clearly miss a lot of what’s happening. But when you see Marc riding, it’s simply another thing. It’s something else.
“He had this incredible journey through the injuries and operations, and the guy is just coming back, and he’s as good as he was. So, nothing I think will prevent him from saying, ‘I’m taking a sabbatical now’, to heal perfectly – because the injuries are accumulating every time he steps on that bike.
“And then come back as a free man, ‘See my options through the season, next year, avoid further injuries’. And if he’s healthy, Marc is just a winner.”
Should Marquez the “asset” be protected more?
Though Marquez now feels fully recovered from his career-altering Jerez 2020 arm break, its after-effects are still clearly being keenly felt – also in how Honda’s programme has stagnated since.
Marquez’s accelerated post-surgery return for the second part of that year’s Jerez double-header remains a big moment in that story as it badly exacerbated the injury.
While clearly an admirer of Marquez’s, Battistella said he believes the six-time champion wasn’t being reined in enough, especially considering his importance to Honda, and that he should’ve “absolutely” been stopped in principle from attempting that Jerez comeback – one that Marquez has long maintained he felt safe in doing due to the medical advice he’d received.
“In my career I’ve been sporting director in teams – although it was Formula 3 and Formula 2, and the dangers in there are not connected, but you still have to manage things, you know? You have the most valuable part of your team – it’s Marc Marquez, that’s it.
“And you have this guy who only has one limit – when he doesn’t control his incredible will to dominate the others, he generates damages. He does crash, he does hit people. He did lose a championship in 2015, he lost it and he admitted he lost it because he didn’t [just] want to win, he wanted to dominate.
“As soon as you have this kind of character, you need just to do one thing – manage the guy. Manage this incredible energy. Because if you don’t control it, he will implode.
“And this is what happened, the guy made a mistake at the beginning of the race, was last or whatever, and then was lapping one second faster per lap than the leader of the race, not even the other guys.
“And the only thing you have to do at that moment is give him a message to control. To control it.
“You have already seen that he is the fastest of the pack. This is the first race of the season, you have the fastest of the pack by far. Bring it home. Second, third, doesn’t matter – bring it home. You don’t push him.
“You don’t have a problem to win races with Marc, the only problem you have is to control him. Because sometimes he simply cannot control himself.
“I understand it – in fact, if I was Marquez I’d be even worse probably! But he is the most valuable asset of the team.”
