On the occasion of the Grand Prix de Catalunya, the home race for four-time World Champion Marc Marquez, Honda Racing Corporation is pleased to announce a contract extension with the 23-year-old Spanish rider that will see him continuing to race for the Repsol Honda Team for the next two years.
Marquez is currently in his fourth season in the MotoGP™ class, always with the Repsol Honda Team. During that time, he has achieved two World Titles, in his rookie season in 2013, and again in 2014, whereas he finished third last year. Thus far, Marquez has won nearly half of the premier-class races he has entered and has finished on the podium 73% of the time.
With six rounds having been completed in the 2016 season, Marquez arrives at this weekend’s Catalan GP second in the standings by just 10 points.
Marc Marquez: "I'm very happy to announce this renewal with HRC, especially coinciding with Grand Prix of Catalunya, my home GP, where I have some really good memories. HRC and I have a very strong relationship, and I’ve always wanted to continue being a part of the Repsol Honda Team. In three and a half years together, we’ve enjoyed some unbelievable moments, with great victories and two world titles, as well as a few challenging moments that I believe are making us stronger. We’re working very hard this year to regain the title. It’s a great honour to be a part of the Honda family, and I’m glad to remain with this special group of people for another two seasons.”
Shuhei Nakamoto: "We’re honoured to have reached an agreement with Marc for two more years. There’s no doubt that he is the present and future of MotoGP! We know him well and he knows us well, and we both wanted to continue together; for this reason, we felt no rush for this renewal. Marc has grown a lot during almost four years with HRC, and now he’s an even more complete rider than in 2014, when he won 10 races in a row. Although he’s still very young, we already have a long relationship together, and we know that Marc's experience is very important for helping our engineers to develop our bike."