Honda responds to Lorenzo rumours

Repsol Honda team manager Alberto Puig says there have been no discussions with Jorge Lorenzo about being released from his contract and HRC expects the triple MotoGP champion to remain alongside Marc Marquez next season.

Although absent from the Red Bull Ring paddock while he continues to recover from back injuries, Lorenzo has been the talk of the event after Jack Miller felt there is 'some truth' to shock rumours Lorenzo wants to take over his Pramac Ducati seat for 2020.

The latest speculation even suggests the Spaniard, yet to claim a top-ten finish at Honda, has also made an approach to Petronas Yamaha.

But that's despite Lorenzo being at the start of a two-year deal with Repsol Honda.

It's for that reason, plus the lack of any direct communication from Lorenzo to suggest otherwise, that Puig said he isn’t paying much attention to the gossip.

"I don’t think about it because I only know what we know, and we know that we have a contract with him for two years, that ends in 2020," Puig said.

"So I really don’t know what the paddock rumours are or what people are saying, but I can only stick to our plan and the Honda plan which is to have him for this year and next year."

"In this paddock you are never surprised. I'm used to being in this environment and I know these [rumours] can happen," he added. "But for me, the only important thing is when the rider comes to you and tells you what he has in his mind.

"I never had any information like this from him, so I have to believe that things are okay… I'm not even thinking if he will leave."

Marquez, firmly on course for a sixth MotoGP title with Repsol Honda, was fastest during Friday practice in Austria.