MotoGP: Marquez and Honda renew their link

Marc Marquez has as expected signed a new two-year deal that will see him remain at the Repsol Honda team until at least the end of the 2018 season. The Spaniard finally announced the extension to his deal today at his home race in Barcelona.

Coming as no surprise after he admitted earlier this season that his aims were to remain a Honda rider – and after all other avenues were closed to him – Marquez says that he was always keen to remain a HRC rider.

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“HRC and I have a very strong relationship, and I’ve always wanted to continue being a part of the Repsol Honda Team. In three and a half years together, we’ve enjoyed some unbelievable moments, with great victories and two world titles, as well as a few challenging moments that I believe are making us stronger.

“We’re working very hard this year to regain the title. It’s a great honour to be a part of the Honda family, and I’m glad to remain with this special group of people for another two seasons.”

His sentiments were echoed by HRC Executive Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto, who says that Honda always wanted him despite also remaining keen not to force the decision.

 “We’re honoured to have reached an agreement with Marc for two more years. There’s no doubt that he is the present and future of MotoGP! We know him well and he knows us well, and we both wanted to continue together; for this reason, we felt no rush for this renewal.

“Marc has grown a lot during almost four years with HRC, and now he’s an even more complete rider than in 2014, when he won 10 races in a row. Although he’s still very young, we already have a long relationship together, and we know that Marc’s experience is very important for helping our engineers to develop our bike.”