Paris (AFP)
Six-time Spanish world champion MotoGP Marc Marquez extended his contract with the official Honda team by four years until the end of 2024, the Japanese brand announced in a statement on Thursday.
"We are pleased to announce that, at the end of the current season, Marc will remain in the Honda family for another four years," said Yoshishige Nomura, president of the sporting arm of Honda, Honda Racing Corporation ( HRC). "We started talking a few months ago, the two sides wanting to stay together and continue to win."
"Honda offered me the opportunity to start in MotoGP on a factory motorcycle in 2013", reacts Marquez, 27, in this press release. "For the first year, we have had success together and I am very happy to continue to be part of the Honda family."
In addition to the world titles in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Catalan won 56 Grand Prix, signed 95 podiums and 62 pole positions with the Japanese brand.
He was also titled in 125cc (which has since become Moto3) in 2010 on Derbi and in Moto2 in 2012 riding a Suter.
The transfer market had hitherto been animated by Yamaha, which extended the Spanish Maverick Vinales for the 2021-2022 seasons and above all announced the replacement of the Italian Valentino Rossi by the French Fabio Quartararo from 2021.
For Rossi, who celebrated his 41st birthday on February 16, this announcement is not necessarily synonymous with the end of his career. The Doctor will announce his intention to continue or not to continue the competition mid-2020, depending on his GP results.
Only one other driver already has a contract for next season: the Spanish Tito Rabat at Avintia until the end of 2021.
The 2020 season will start in Qatar on March 8 and end in Valencia (Spain) on November 15. Before that, a final test session is scheduled in Qatar from February 22 to 24.
© 2020 AFP