Opinion: What should Honda do if Marc Marquez cannot race in 2023

March 30, 2022 March 29, 2022

Before I begin I would like to state that everyone wishes the best to Marquez. We all hope to see him return to bike racing as nobody should have to retire this way.

During the warm up session at the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix Marc Marquez was launched off of his Honda RC213V and was slammed back down to earth. Marquez was visibly effected by the crash as he stumbled his way through the gravel.

The Spanish rider was taken to hospital for a check up and he was unable to race due to concussion. However, things got a whole lot worse than just missing a single Grand Prix. As on his way back to Spain his double vision injury (diplopia) returned.

Marquez has now also been officially sidelined for the Argentine Grand Prix and will most likely be sidelined for the foreseeable future. It now appears that Marquez’s diplopia condition will occur more often after big crashes.

If Marquez is unable to return to MotoGP or if he chooses not to return what should Honda do.

Honda Rider Options:

If Marquez does leave MotoGP then who could Honda look at to replace their 8-time world champion.

Alex Marquez:

If the older Marquez does call it a day then the Repsol Honda team could look at the younger brother. After a stint in the Repsol team in 2020 the Spanish rider could potentially return to the factory Honda squad.

Currently Marquez is sat in 17th place in the championship with a best result of a 13th place finish. The LCR rider has not reached the same level of success that he had in 2020.

I could see Marquez back in Repsol colors in 2023 if he gets some better results in the coming races. However, that seems unlikely.

Takaaki Nakagami:

The Japanese rider could end up at the Repsol team because of his LCR Honda links and his Japanese passport.

However, Nakagami has never been able to get strong results in MotoGP consistently. Because of this I do not believe Repsol Honda would look at Nakagami as an option for their rider.

Joan Mir:

The 2020 world champion has been linked with a Repsol move but if Marquez leaves it could be a higher chance of the move working out.

The Spanish rider would be looked at more favorably due to his nationality. Mir is a very consistent and reliable rider who Repsol Honda could rely on to bring race wins and potential championships.

I believe Mir would be the rider who would be most likely to replace Marquez.

Aron Canet:

The current Moto2 rider who is second in the championship could get the MotoGP call up. The Repsol Honda team could do with a rider of Canets talents and consistency.

Canet is also a Spanish rider who Repsol would look more favorable on due to this.

Canet would be second in line in my opinion for the Repsol team, just behind Mir.