Marc Marquez 'joked about Miller tow yesterday', Honda 'won't get Concessions'

Another MotꦫoGP qua﷽lifying session, another tow hunt by Marc Marquez, who this time set off in pursuit of Jack Miller during both of his Qualifying 1 runs in Catalunya.
But unlike in Mugello a week ago - where Maverick Vinales had been left fuming by Ma🐽rquez's refusal to leave his rear wheel, despite a short-cut into pit lane - Miller seemed to see the funny side, gesturing for the Honda rider to pay him for the tow as they left pit lane.
Marquez later revealed the pair, who shook hands after Qualifying 1, h𝄹ad joked about just such a scenario on Friday.
"How much for a slipstream?" heads out for Q1, closel﷽y fo♊llowed by a certain !
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP)
"Yesterday we were joking in the Clinica Mobile with Mill🌺er, because I was in 15th place and he said to me, 'how much will you pay me?' And today was the t🌞ime!" Marquez said.
"In Qualifying 1, many riders – me, Pol – were waiting ꦍfor somebody and this somebody was the fastest gu꧅y; Miller.
"Just we went behind him and of course he said to me ꦉ'how much?' and I said 'later, later we will speak about it!'
!The rider is through but i🌠s knocked ouܫt by his team-mate ! — MotoGP (@MotoGP)
But while Miller made it safely through Qualifying 1 with the fastest time, it was Mar𒅌quez w💎ho lost out due to a following rider, his own team-mate Pol Espargaro demoting him from second to third.
Marquez was therefore pushed out of Qualifying 2 and w🃏ill ♚;start Sunday's race from 13th on the grid.
"I'm not very disappointed to not pass to Qualifying 2, because in the end it doesn't ch🌳ange a lot to start 13th or 11th," he said. "Like in Mugello, I passed through to Qualifying 2 but I started 11th. So in the end it's the same."
Indeed, the biggest obstacle Marquez faces is not his grid position but the physical condit♐ion of his slow-healing arm and shoulder🐠, followed by the need to improve the podium-less 2021 RC213V.
All of which makes his ꦿpersistence in seeking a tow at each race weekend seem rather unnecessary…
Meanwh♔ile, in the unlikely event that no Honda rider stands on the rostrum this season, the factory would qualify for MotoGP's package of technical concessions in 2022.
B𒁏ut that's not something Marquez thinks will happen.
"We are in a difficu☂lt moment and everything we can have for the future, some advantage, will be nice to us. But I don’t think we will get the Concessions, honestly speaking. I believe we will get a podium before we finish the year."
Nonetheless, team-mate Espargaro said having Concessions would be very useful for H🌱onda at the moment, especially given the lack of testing.
Aprilia is the last remaining MotoGP manufacturer still with access to Concessions, which includes the chance to continue engine development during a season 🌠and conduct private testing with race riders.
Honda is cur⛦rently enduring its longest premier-class losing streak since 1982, being without a win since Marquez's victory at Valencia in 2019.
The factory's best result so far this year is a fourth place by LCR's Takaaki Nakagami, with Marquez no higher than seventh since his comeback due to recent DNFs at Le Mans an💮d Muꩲgello.

Peter has been in the pad♔dock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exi🀅t story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.