Paris (AFP)
Spaniard Alex Marquez will drive a factory Honda at the 2020 MotoGP World Championship alongside his brother Marc, six-time world champion in the discipline, announced Monday the Japanese manufacturer.
Alex Marquez, 23, won the Moto2 World Title this year and will take over from Honda, with a one-year contract, to his compatriot Jorge Lorenzo who announced his retirement last week before the Valencia GP , last test of the season.
This announcement puts an end to 29-year-old Frenchman Johann Zarco replacing Lorenzo in Honda Racing Team. Zarco, who competed in the last three Grand Prix of the 2019 season for Honda's LCR, a satellite, was among the riders expected to join the factory team. He currently does not have a MotoGP contract for next year.
Marc Marquez, 26, won this year's MotoGP World Championship for the sixth time by crushing the competition and winning 12 of 19 races, bringing his total of victories in the category, where he has been running since 2013, at 56. He has also been world champion Moto2 in 2012 and 125cc in 2010.
He did his whole career at the highest level for Honda while Alex was racing this year in Moto2 for Kalex, Honda not lining up in this category.
Present in Moto2 since 2015, the young Spanish won the title this year after finishing 4th in the championship in 2017 and 2018. He won a total of eight victories in this category and was also Moto3 world champion in 2014.
Alex Marquez was initially expected to continue in 2020 in Moto2 but the surprise announcement of the departure of Lorenzo, who had in principle a contract with Honda until the end of 2020, has redistributed the cards.
Several names were advanced to succeed him including that of Zarco but also the other LCR driver, British Cal Crutchlow.
Alex Marquez will eventually replace him, even if he is totally inexperienced in the queen category and will have to compete with the best driver in the discipline.
© 2019 AFP