With Marquez off to Gresini Ducati next season, Honda is in the midst of securing a replacement for its factory squad.
Five-time MotoGP race winner Miguel Oliveira was its first choice, but HRC’s apparent unwillingness to sign a rider for longer than one year closed this door.
This placed Fabio Di Giannantonio – who will be replaced by Marquez at Gresini – as favourite, though rumours have since emerged prior to the Malaysian Grand Prix that Moto2 frontrunner Fermin Aldeguer is also in the frame.
When asked by Autosport what Honda should do in terms of his replacement, he replied: “It depends on the strategy they want to have.
“I will not go in on those plans, because I respect them.
“Of course, they try to do the best for the project right now and the best for the project is to invest all the money into the bike.
“That is what I believe, because there’s no sense to have a bike that is not performing at the moment in a good way and have the best rider on the grid.
“First of all you need to have the bike, and then go to catch the best rider.
Source: Autosport