Honda finished behind Ducati, Yamaha, and Suzuki in the Constructors’ standing this year. While this was one place better than last year, it marks a low point for Honda, the most successful constructor in MotoGP history. This has also been an abrupt downfall that began when Marc Marquez got injured in 2020. Things have once again taken an unfortunate turn with yet another injury for him. Some feel that Honda’s dependence on Marc may be futile and Honda team manager Alberto Puig has revealed the team’s stance on this as quoted by The Race
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0:00 - Will Honda Keep Waiting For Marc Marquez?
2:23 - Fast Feed
I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Moto World:
Will Honda Keep Waiting For Marc Marquez?
Puig began by speaking about the nature of Marc’s current injury
"It's not so easy to know how a nerve or an eye can react but the doctor was positive. What he mentioned more was that we have to be patient. Because this is not like when many riders crash and they put a plate and race the next week”
"This is more serious, let's say, and will need some time. Of course, I want to be confident and I'm not a doctor but I hear what they said and of course we have to think positive. I think that the key point for this is, as I said, a very difficult thing, we have to be patient”
He further explained why patience is key
"Patience is something that there is not much of in our sport! But this is how it is and let's hope that he is lucky and can go back to full fitness. I think sometimes life brings you to situations where you have to be patient, because you don’t have any other option”
He then turned his attention to Honda needing to develop their bike without Marquez for a second year on the trot
“Now we will have to have a second year of development without a rider that has won a lot of races. It's not the best scenario, but racing is not always what you want. So now we will have to try to understand what our direction is with the other three guys, that of course are fast, but they don’t have the experience of winning with this bike that Marc has. But this is what it is”
“Our position is, unfortunately, this thing happened [to Marquez] and there's nothing we can do as a factory, just wait. And this is what Honda is going to do. We understand the value of this rider, his potential. We don't need to explain Marc's skill”
He signed off by reiterating that they will wait for Marc’s return
"So, Honda will keep on working, trying to find the bike for next year, and when the time comes, when he's ready, we will give him the bike that we think is our best selection of all the parts and info we collect from the other riders. There's nothing special we are going to do but wait until Marc is back and fit”
Fast Feed
Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo has stated that “some more horsepower would be a perfect [Christmas] gift” [GP One]
“But I already unwrapped my gift, that is, the World title. It’s something that changes your life. I think that, along with the team, we’ve done a great job getting the title”
“We hope to, however, further progress in view of the upcoming tests, since the last ones didn’t go very well but, in Japan, they know what to do and where to intervene and, consequently, I’m confident”
LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez’s “wish for 2022 is that fate be a little bit kinder to [him]. That there are no injuries, not only for [him] but above all for Marc [Marquez]” [AS]
“Then I hope to be more consistently in the top 6 or 8, and then that Marc could win the World Championship”
He also feels that the Ducati “is the most complete bike, I think it has been for a few years. Many riders know how to ride it well and they are almost all fast. They chose that motorcycle concept much earlier and have evolved a lot”
Franco Uncini, FIM safety manager explained that “the riders complained a lot about the Austin asphalt” [MotoGP]
“I was in Texas in the summer, between the two races in Austria, and I noticed that there were many dips. The ground is very soft and those bumps are still moving”
“We had expressed our desire for a complete resurfacing. They replied that it is not possible, but they will intervene on the most critical part of the track: from the entry of turn 2 to the exit of 10”
Retired MotoGP rider Loris Capirossi is of the opinion that “first, Franco [Morbidelli] has to find the physical condition, the perfect shape, which he didn’t find this year after the surgery” [Motorcycle Sports]
“We saw him sporadically being very fast on the fast lap, but then he couldn’t hold up the entire race – maybe because of a problem with his operated leg”
“We all know his talent and potential, and last year he was second in the championship. He is one of the riders who, with a factory bike and in a factory team, he can give his opinion”
Should Honda focus on the other riders they have apart from Marc Marquez?
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