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HRC Renews Contract with Marc Marquez through 2018

Two-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) reached an agreement and will continue their partnership for two more seasons, 2017 and 2018, an official press release informs us.
Marc Marquez, 2016 6 photos
Photo: motogp.com
Marc MarquezMarc MarquezMarc MarquezMarc MarquezMarc Marquez
With Marquez signed, the Honda factory team can get back to work now, having secured two of the best riders in the market for the next two seasons. Pedrosa was first to sign a new deal with Honda, but we had no doubt that Marquez would be on the team, too. It was all down to certain clauses, most likely, especially as the current HRC package is working way below its potential with the spec software, as Pedrosa revealed lately.

MM93 took 60 starts in the premier class and accumulated 44 podiums, of which 26 were victories, 12 were runner-up positions and 6 were 3rd-best finishes. Marquez is also a very good qualifier, with 32 poles and 32 fastest race laps. Alongside his MotoGP world titles in 2013 and 2014, Marc Marquez is also a world champion in Moto2 (2012) and 125cc (Moto3) in 2010.

We remind you that Dani Pedrosa also agreed on a contract extension with Honda for two years, after making the headlines with the rumors that he might go at Yamaha.

After Jorge Lorenzo announced that he will be riding a Ducati from 2017 and Suzuki reportedly made a most generous offer to retain the service of Maverik Vinales, Pedrosa was the next in line tipped to become Valentino Rossi's future teammate.

Everything settled when Yamaha and Vinales confirmed having reached consensus and put the young Spaniard on the M1 in the first pre-season test of the 2017 championship, after the season finale at Valencia.

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, HRC Executive Vice President:

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.

We're in for more MotoGP action at Barcelona this very weekend, with the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.
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