Valencia GP, Marquez and Honda, the sad farewell

It was definitely not the farewell Marc Marquez had envisaged. His race began with a contact that floored Bezzecchi and finished with a nasty highside courtesy of Jorge Martin. The podium was within the Spaniard’s reach and would have been a nice way to round out a particularly difficult year aboard the RCV213 before handing it over to Luca Marini.

Marc and the end of the Honda chapter

Unable to complete the race despite having showed the potential to reach the podium and gift the Honda team one last moment of glory in what has been a challenging year, the Spaniard was still able to joke with journalists about his final interview in HRC colours.

“It might even be my penultimate interview – Marquez tells Sky – you never know. That’s a rumour for 2025 (he laughs).It’s a pity because all weekend I showed I had the pace to fight for the podium, we were strong and I felt good in the race. It wasn’t my mistake this time but I don’t want to blame Martin, I understand his mentality, he was coming off the turn 1 error, battled with Vinales and was a bit too optimistic heading into turn 4. I understand this can happen in racing, but I didn’t want my season with Honda to finish this way. In my head, it was as if I were fighting for the title this weekend, I was focused and pushing hard. I celebrated in the garage and want to thank Honda for these years.”

Marquez and his expectations for Ducati

But as one chapter ends for Marc Marquez, another is about to begin. This week’s tests will see the Spaniard climb aboard the team Gresini Ducati GP23 for the first time as he starts to work with the technicians and get to grips with the bike.

“I need to remain calm – comments Marquez – it doesn’t all end on Tuesday. I need to get to know the team and the bike, see how it all works. It’s the bike that’s just won the title, many riders are strong but the difficulty is to be as consistent as Bagnaia and Martin have been. Next year will bring answers to the many questions I have in my head, we’ll see if I can still smile in my helmet like I did this weekend. It will be a big career change. It takes balls to make a change like this, as the easy option would have been to stay at Honda and continue with the project. I’m a determined rider on and off track and try to do all I can can to have fun – for me having fun means finishing top five in every race.”

Marquez thought Martin had it

In previous races, the Spaniard thought that fellow countryman Jorge Martin would secure the title, but he’s also pleased to have been proved wrong.

“My congratulations go to Bagnaia. Joking with the journalists five races ago, I said Martin would win but in the end it’s Pecco. Well done to him and Ducati for having won two in a row. Next year he and Martin will again be the favourites for the title.”