Marc Marquez has apparently made an offer to Honda to forego his fee for the 2020 world championship, during which he actually only participated in the first GP of the season at Jerez. This is the indiscretion reported by our Spanish colleagues in AS.com, who also report that Honda refused to countenance this idea.
Marquez had signed a contract at the beginning of 2020 running through the end of 2024, bringing to eleven the number of seasons spent on the Honda, the only MotoGP bike ever raced by the Spanish champion who has been struggling since July to recover from that damn injury and get back into the saddle. In recent weeks, rumours have emerged about possible friction between the manufacturer and the rider, and this move seems destined in some way to cool tempers and strengthen a partnership that is expected to last for a long time.
Knowing the mentality of the Japanese, the rejection of Marquez's offer is perfectly understandable. Honda is a colossus that certainly does not need Marc's huge commitment to move forward and, above all, a gesture like that of the rider can only be appreciated by the Japanese managers.
Marc's participation in the Qatar tests seems highly unlikely, but a lot of observers are betting on the Spaniard's return to the bike by the end of the first part of this season. At Losail there will be Pol Espargarò and Stefan Bradl, but in Honda they know very well that only Marquez has shown himself capable of winning with their bike and his absence on the grid weighs down like a boulder on HRC's overall competitiveness in MotoGP, all the while they wait to see how quickly Espargarò will adapt to the new bike.