Marc Marquez says incoming Repsol Honda team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who will join him at the MotoGP squad next year, “will be fast” despite needing time to adapt to the RC213V.
Honda sensationally announced last week it had secured the services of three-time premier class champion Lorenzo, who will depart Ducati after a difficult year-and-a-half before his dominant Mugello win, for the next two years.
Lorenzo struggled to adapt from the Yamaha to the difficult Ducati, and could face similar problems when he switches to the RC213V, which Argentina GP winner Cal Crutchlow labeled as even more difficult to ride than last year's notoriously troubled Honda.
Marquez admits Lorenzo will need some time to adjust, but expects him to be fast on the Honda as he feels it is “closer to the Ducati”.
“You never know,” he said when asked if Lorenzo would be fast on the Honda.
“Of course Honda is a bike that is completely different to the Yamaha, but I think it is closer to the Ducati.
“So I think this will help a little bit, he is coming from Ducati. In the end, he's a good rider, a good rider maybe needs a race, one day, one year [to adapt], you never know.
“But he will arrive, he will be fast, but it is important that it is a rider with a lot of experience, and also for the team he can give good information.”
When asked if he had any say in the decision, Marquez said the most important thing for him was that he had already secured his future with the team.
“Honda did a good job, because they were speaking with Jorge, but so quiet. Everything was going in a good way, but of course I was there [in the team].
“I already said before the announcement that I was inside the team, that was the most important. And the most important things is to have a strong team-mate, because this will be better for the team.”
Lorenzo's signing came a day after Honda confirmed it was parting ways with long-time rider Dani Pedrosa at the end of the year, who is expected to retire or move to a Petronas-backed satellite Yamaha team originally tipped for Lorenzo.
Honda signed a pre-contract with Moto2 frontrunner Joan Mir, but opted against fully agreeing a deal with the young Spaniard, who will now make his MotoGP debut with Suzuki next year instead.
