MotoGP champion Marquez renews with Honda until 2024

[February 20, 2020]  (Reuters) - Spain's six times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has signed a four-year contract extension with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) through to the end of 2024, the team said on Thursday.

Marquez, who turned 27 this week, won his first title in 2013 with the Repsol Honda team and has won the last four world championships in a row. He has a total of 56 career victories and 95 podiums to his name in the premier class.

"Honda gave me the opportunity to arrive in the MotoGP class with a factory bike in 2013," Marquez said in a statement. "Since the first year we have achieved success together and I am very happy to continue being part of the Honda family."

HRC president Yoshishige Nomura said the deal had been in the works for months and that Marquez deserved a unique deal for being their most successful rider ever.

"Both parties wanted to stay together and continue winning," Nomura said. "Marc started his career in the premier class in 2013 and with him we have won six of the last seven MotoGP titles. As a unique champion, he deserves a unique deal."

Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez gestures during a press briefing at a launching ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

Marquez had surgery on a shoulder dislocation in November following two crashes last year but was involved in testing in Sepang earlier this month.

The final pre-season test is from Feb. 22-24 in Qatar before the first race of the season at the Losail Circuit on March 8.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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