The Marc Marquez comment which hints at Honda heartbreak
Before the race started at Silversto♈ne, he was as🔥ked by TNT Sports’ Michael Laverty on the grid: “There is potential for a flag-to-flag race today, you are the best in the world that we’ve ever seen at that. Are you hoping for a little bit of rainfall?”
Marquez replied: “I was the best…”
"I was the best."
— MotoGP on TNT Sports (@motogpontnt)
This isn't the Marc Márquez we know ♔🌼- a sign of his mental state?
It was a fairly surprising comment for the Repsol Honda star to makﷺe, particularly considering he is usually forthright about his brutal mentality on the track.
It 🍎suggested a newfound softn𒆙ess which is a major worry for Marquez and Honda.
He reiterated his commitment to the Japanese♔ manufacturer for 2024, despite the rumours continually circulating he might quit and head elsewhere in the desperate search for a competitive bike.
Honda’s bad couple of years sunk to a new low at Silverꦗstone.
Marquez and Repsol Honda teammatღe Joan Mir both failed to finish🔯 the race.
It means that, combined, they have completed just o💛ne MotoGP grand prix in the entirety of 2023. That was the first round in Portimao, when Mir🌠 came 11th.
It’s a shocking statistic for the team who delivered the 2019 ꦬMotoGP championship.
When you add in Alex Rins’ swift exit - after just half-a-season including a sho🥂ck Grand Prix of Americas🍰 victory and a broken leg, he has confirmed that he’s going to Yamaha for 2024 - Honda are in a mess.
Marquez cut a 🗹completely different ꧙figure at Silverstone.
Perhaps his newfound attitude to happily blend into the middle pack is a sensible ploy. He insists that his priority for the rest of 2023 is to develop a bike capable of then challenging at 🎶the front in 2024.
On Saturday he even admitted to waiting for teammate Mir to “understand” how their machines were wꩵorkin🌊g.
But it’s pretty remarkable to hear a warrior like Marquez speak like he did at Silverstone, with resignation. There was somewhat of a white flag 🔯waved - however correct he may be to do so, it’s shocking to witness.
Maybe this attitude was reserve💫d just for Marquez’s first weekend back after the𝐆 summer break, after a punishing period of crashes and injuries which battered his already-depleted body.
His ✅legions of fans will hope to see him fight with more ambition sooner rather than later.
Or maybe𝔉 his throwaway comment to TNT Sports on the starting grid - “I was the best - hints at a deeper problem.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a ღdecade covering everything from American sports, to football,♔ to F1.
