Revealed: Honda’s role in the Marquez-Alzamora split

Marc and Alex Marquez confirmed they would end their 18-year association with Alzamora last summer.

Alzamora began work with Marc when the prodigious rider was 12-years-old, and then oversaw his heyday which yielded six premier class championships.

"When a relationship breaks down after [nearly] 20 years there is always a big problem,” said veteran manager Carlo Pernat, who currently represents Enea Bastianini. 

“In my opinion it was not money, but after that period of chaos he got in the way of Honda who no longer accepted him. 

“[Honda] could accept Marc but not Alzamora, so they put [an ultimatum] on Marc.

“In the middle there were millionaire contracts.”

Alex Marquez has also left Honda and will be in the 2023 MotoGP rider line-up with Gresini Ducati.

Marc remains with the team that has helped him to each of his six titles, but has already complained about the state of their 2023 prototype bike.

His younger brother’s switch to the Ducati stable will increase speculation about Marc’s future which will only intensify if Honda cannot do their part in delivering him competitive machinery.

As for Alzamora? He hasn’t spoken about his split from the Marquez brothers and nor have the riders themselves.

Alzamora became frequently absent from races in mid-2022 leading to speculation about his separation from the Marquez brothers which was ultimately proved to be true.

Without Alzamora by his side, Marc roared back from his latest serious surgery to earn a pole position and a podium finish and set himself up for an optimistic start to the 2023 season.