Marquez is back to full fitness for the first time in three seasons, however, Honda don’t appear ready to offer him a bike capable of dominatin𒈔g MotoGP like in 2019.

Pre-seas𝄹on results weren’t kind to the Japanese manufacturer, although optimism remains for Marquez as race pace was much stronger compared to ꦚqualifying simulations.

• Alex Marquez: ‘One of my best 🃏opportunities’, but no early advantage 
• Bagnaia: Bastianini ‘never worked in the box…, fr🧜ee to do what we want’

That being said, w๊i꧑nning races consistently in 2023 appears to be a tall task at the moment which led to Marquez being asked if he feels ready to win but that Honda could be holding him back.

Marquez’s response was however to the point 🀅in defence of Honda: "No. We are a team, we win together and lose together. The past three years were tough for me and for Honda. We are not title contenders today. 

"We ne𒁃ed to keep building the proj꧒ect to be more competitive. My ambition is the same as 2013, I am here to fight for the top positions. I will do whatever I can. 

"I beli♏eve in the project, I believe in Honda. Last year Pecco started not so good, he had problems, but then we won many races in a row.”

Touching on the subject of Bagnaia and Ducati, Marquez wa🍷s one of many riders who had no answer for the MotoGP champion’s pace in Sepang or Portimao.

Keen to point out Ducati’s superiority at this moment in t🤡ime, Marquez said the step forward needed to match Bagnaia is even bigger than the one Honda ♚needs to make in order to challenge all other Ducati riders.

"It’s obvious Ducati have a really strong package," added the six-time premier class champion. "Pecco was the fastest on the grid, we are far from them, but even further ꦏfrom Pecco.&nb🀅sp;

"We arꦜe working to be better in some areas, basically the same areas as last year. We are still investigating how to improve."

2020 MotoGP ch📖ampion Mir struggling to find the ‘last tenth’ after move from🌠 Suzuki to Honda

One of the big rider changes for this season was the addition of Joan Mir to Repsol Honda, af෴ter his former🌱 team Suzuki pulled out.

The Spaniard managed to get closer and closer to Marquez throughout pre-season testing, although finding the last bit of potential f🃏rom his RC213V remains a challenge.

Speaking about his move and a♔daptation to Honda, Mir added: "To move to this team has been a big challenge. It’s something I was dreaming of for a long time. When you move to a bike which is different, at this high level, it’s difficult to find the last tenth. But this is what we’ve done. We have done a great job, I’m happy.

“We want tꦏo be closer to the top guys but that’s part of the process. When y🍨ou have expectations, the most important thing is to be realistic with your feet on the ground. We made a big change with my career.

"Like with the last challenge, we need a little time to adapt. It needs evolution race-by-race. Every day I feel more adapted to this bike and I can give better information to the engineers to improve the package. I wanಞt to finish the season on top. To do that, we have to start by not being far."