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Marc Marquez is finally free from the shackles of Honda and looks set for what is going to be an interesting next chapter of his career. The Spaniard has been the most successful MotoGP rider of the last decade but what has made him stand out even more has been the unmistakable once-in-a-lifetime talent.
With the move to Gresini Ducati next season, Marquez will have his hands on a one-year-old bike that would still be far more competitive than the one he's riding right now.
While several pundits are already jumping on the bandwagon and terming Marquez's return to a competitive bike an indication that the Spaniard, the former king, will be back to challenge for his thrown next season.
More importantly, however, Marc Marquez's split from Honda comes at the perfect time and is the best thing to have happened to MotoGP. Here's why!
Marc Marquez moving to Gresini Ducati means we have a new championship contender
Of course, there are going to be doubters. Of course, many would scoff at the suggestions of Marc Marquez being an instant success on a year-old Ducati and of course, there are many who would call something like this nothing more than an overrated claim. Well, there is certainly merit to what they're claiming.
Marc Marquez has only had a Honda under him for a decade. He's been riding a bike in only one way, how the Japanese team built it for him. Most importantly, he's been doing it for a decade. Hence if there is anyone who expects Marquez to at least struggle early on to adapt to the Ducati, there is certainly a possibility of that happening.
Having said that, Ducati is not that uncontrollable beast anymore. The bike has become more benign over the years and can be witnessed by the fact that Marquez's future teammate and brother Alex moved from a Honda to a Ducati and it did not take long for him to adapt to the bike.
With the question of adaptability out of the way, what we need to here is look at the title fight in the last two seasons. The rider who finished third last season was Enea Bastianini while this season the rider who looks set to finish third is Marco Bezzechi. More or less both riders featured in the title fight in the respective seasons and both of them rode a year-old Ducati (Enea with Gresini while Marco with VR46).
Can we expect Marc Marquez to at least do something similar or maybe even go one better? In all likelihood, the answer is yes. Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin have another championship contender to worry about and it's going to spice things up.
Honda needs time to rebuild away from the spotlight
Now, talking about Honda, if Marc Marquez had decided to stick it out with the team, was anybody going to benefit from this? The answer to that is no. The Spaniard wants to be a title contender ASAP. He's 30 years old, and while the last decade has gone by like a breeze, father time waits for no one.
Marquez is getting older and he knows he only has limited time in the sport. With that being the case continuing with Honda was out of the question because a Honda revival is not happening next season. That bike is too far behind the European counterparts and in no way is it going to catch up with them in a winter.
Honda needs a good two to three years of development that will help the team get better and stronger with time. That kind of window does not work with Marquez and that kind of spotlight was starting to become toxic for the Japanese squad as well. With Marc gone, the team still has a world champion in Joan Mir in the ranks and this is the best time to start building things from scratch.
Legacy building 2024 for Marc, Pecco, and Jorge will boost MotoGP fan interest
To address the elephant in the room, MotoGP is struggling as a sport right now. Fan interest has been on the decline and viewership has been dipping. One of the major reasons behind that has been Valentino Rossi's retirement from the sport and the lack of credibility of reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia.
Bagnaia overcame a 90-plus points deficit in 2022 against Fabio Quartararo to win the title. He is a Rossi protege but while he is a fantastic rider, he hasn't won the hearts of the fans like his mentor. The biggest reason behind it has not only been his title campaign last season where he should have won the title comfortably, it's also his campaign this season.
Bagnaia has seen his 60-plus points lead shrink to fellow Ducati rider Jorge Martin. The only difference between the two? Pecco rides for the factory team and has a massive team behind him while Martin rides for the satellite team Pramac. All of the top riders with Ducati underneath them do not have the kind of credibility that Marc Marquez or even Fabio Quartararo commands.
This is precisely why Bagnaia welcomed a Marc Marquez challenge and so did Jorge Martin. For these riders, it is a legacy-building opportunity to go against one of the greatest talents on two wheels. For MotoGP, it is an opportunity to boost viewership and following. At the same time, it is an opportunity to make superstars.
If either Jorge, Pecco, or other highly rated riders at Ducati like Bezzechi and Morbidelli are able to get the better of Marc Marquez on the same bike, you're looking at a different level of credibility that builds superstars.
It is sad to see Marc Marquez leave Honda but for MotoGP, it could not have happened at a better time.
