Marquez: Honda “listen to all the riders, Taka tested many things before me”

The Japanese manufacturer have found themselves at the bottom of the MotoGP packing order in 2023, something that’s never been seen in the current era.

Much has been said as to why that’s the case, including those who have made claims that Honda listened only to Marquez for bike development.

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But the eight-time world champion believes Honda are fair to all their riders, saying: "This is not in my hands. In the case of Honda, they are looking and taking care of all the riders, they listen to all the riders. Taka was testing many things before me. We will see for the future."

With regards to bike development, Honda test rider Stefan Bradl stepped up work towards the 2024 season by completing a test at Misano. 

Marquez, who is expected to leave Honda should they fail to provide him with a bike capable of challenging for wins and a title, believes Honda can do it.

"He [Bradl] was testing in Misano, more or less with the bike I raced in Austria. It looks like we’re trying to improve step-by-step. 

"I believe we can do it. At the Misano test you start to understand how the new bike will be. I look forward to trying the new bike, and evaluating the work on the engineer. 

"The team evaluates the performance of the rider, the rider evaluates the performance of the bike.

"Of course, we are far. When you’re far, you need to look for something to change the bike or the riders. 

"In a winning project like Honda, you need to check everything to see why we’re far from the top guys. 

"We work together to understand. It’s true that if you take risk, you are closer. You saw I took a risk, I was closer, but I had many crashes."

The Spaniard finished his first grand prix of the season last time out is still not ready to push flat out, saying he will approach this weekend’s home round in Catalunya as he did the last two rounds.

Marquez said: "No, the same mentality as Silverstone and Austria. I will give 100%, or 95%. But try to understand the limits of our project now. 

"I struggled here in my best years so I will struggle now. We have eight races in 10 weeks so it’s demanding, it’s important to stay on track.

"In FP1 it will be a big difference because I’ll try the different wings. The weather looks unstable so we will decide. But if I need to try something, I will do it."