Honda plotting Rins and Marquez Moto3 dream team

Honda’s threat to quit Moto3 after just two years appears to be a cover for an all-out assault on the 2014 title to break KTM’s domination of the 250cc four-stroke category.

HRC management said at the Motorland Aragon last weekend that it was still undecided on whether the Japanese superpower would compete in Moto3 next season.

But that came against a backdrop of intense speculation that Honda had clinched a deal to run Alex Rins and Alex Marquez – younger brother of MotoGP leader Marc – next season.

Honda confirmed it is talking with Rins and Marquez’s team boss Emilio Alzamora to lure them off the dominant KTM machine, which has won every race in 2013.

Rins is currently only nine-points behind championship leader Luis Salom after back-to-back wins in Misano and Motorland Aragon took his victory tally to five for the season.

Marquez too is showing tremendous promise for the future and he has scored four podiums in the last five races.

HRC boss Livio Suppo told MCN: “If you want to do something properly you need a strong rider and a strong team but nothing is done. If we want a bigger involvement in Moto3 you need to understand if something is available.”

Moto3 was designed to be a cheap entry level class in GP racing but Honda is unhappy that an aggressive development strategy by Austrian rivals KTM has driven up costs to an unacceptable level.

That’s prompted talk of a Honda withdrawal and on whether HRC would supply a bike for 2014, Suppo added: “It is still something we are considering because Moto3 was created to be a low cost class but in reality it is not. To be competitive we need to put in a bigger effort than probably what we are doing now. I’d say it is 60-40 in favour of us staying.”