For the first time since he stepped up to MotoGP in 2013, eight-time grand prix world champion Marquez has kicked off a new campaign not a part of the factory Honda organisation.
Having struggled for much of the 2023 season as the Honda lacked competitiveness, Marquez elected to end his HRC contract a year early to sign for Gresini Ducati to race a GP23.
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It’s a move that has dominated headlines since it was made last October, while his maiden test on the bike in Valencia in November drew a swell of attention.
Marquez ended the test fourth overall and just 0.171 seconds off the best pace, but due to contractual reasons he was not allowed to speak to the media afterwards.
He would subsequently go for surgery on an arm pump issue that had plagued him in the second half of the season.
At its official launch event in Riccione in Italy, Gresini unveiled the colours it will race with in 2024.
The team will run a livery similar to last year’s.
As of 1 January, Marquez has been able to speak publicly about his switch from Honda to Ducati.
Speaking to DAZN earlier this month, Marquez says he adapted quicker than he expected to the Ducati in that first test.
In another interview during a media event, he brushed aside comments Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna made last November – when he said the Italian marque did not want the Spaniard in its ranks – noting that he has never felt that this was the case.
Marquez has not been able to bring any of his core crew over from Honda to Gresini, aside from tyre technician Javi Ortiz, and will have ex-Joan Mir and Fabio Di Giannantonio crew chief Frankie Carchedi by his side.
For the first time since 2020 at the factory Honda squad, Marc Marquez will be team-mates with his younger brother Alex Marquez.
Alex Marquez made a similar switch from Honda to Gresini last year and won two sprint races in a solid campaign for the Spaniard.
Gresini won a grand prix in 2023 courtesy of Di Giannantonio, who took his maiden success at the Qatar GP having faced an uncertain future at this point after Marc Marquez had taken his seat for 2024.
Di Giannantonio will race for VR46 Ducati this season, replacing Luca Marini after the Italian was selected by Honda as Marquez’s replacement.
