MotoGP | The human weight of Marc Marquez’s forced absence

Marc Marquez’s announcement, during the Italian Grand Prix, that he wanted to stop again to undergo a fourth operation on his seriously injured right arm in the 2020 Spanish GP incident, confirmed the rumors that had been denied up to that point. moment: the possibility was there.

It was actually half the truth. That Thursday at Mugello, the eight-time world champion was unwilling to give up the championship to undergo another operation. But he had discussed the option.

Already last October, when he was forced to stop due to problems with diplopia (double vision), Marquez began to reflect on the idea of ​​a fourth major surgery on his arm. Since his return to the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix in April last year, Marquez has indeed been a shadow of himself.

The operations undergone in 2020 had forced him to rotate the humerus from its normal position. This prevented him from training as he usually did and caused him shoulder problems. Even though his bone was healed, when he got back to racing, he had to ride differently.

On clockwise circuits, dominated by right-hand corners, his problems were more acute. On the counter-clockwise tracks, he was able to prove that he was still the masterful driver he has always been. At the Sachsenring and at the Circuit of the Americas he took the victory, while at Aragon he narrowly missed it against Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati. On the Misano circuit, in a clockwise direction, he took advantage of Bagnaia’s fall to take his third victory of the 2021 season. It seemed that the old Marquez was slowly making a comeback. But the reality was very different.

“My daily life is very influenced,” said Marquez of his right arm. “Before, I trained a lot with motocross, with street bikes, with any type of bike, I trained a lot”.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Now normal life consists of going home, resting for two or three days because I can’t do anything, just a little leg work, a little bike. Then I start training again, do physiotherapy and take painkillers. . I tell my doctors and my collaborators that, riding this type of bike, I can still do a year or two, but not more, because I don’t enjoy it. I’m suffering a lot and I can’t bear this mental situation. “

Marc’s seventh-place finish on his return to Portugal represented the first time the Cervera rider has shown real vulnerability and offered a taste of the hell he’s been through since July 2020.

But in 2021, despite missing four races and crashing four more, he comfortably remained the best Honda rider and the only HRC rider to win races. Ultimately, this led to a radical overhaul of Honda’s bike for 2022, as the star’s physical problems, coupled with his teammates’ problems with the RC213V, forced him to look for an easier bike to ride.

Marquez, however, told Motorsport.com last February in Indonesia that he could have won the championship in 2021 with that Honda had he been in better physical condition. What was clear in the first seven races of 2022 was that he could not have won the title with the 2022 RC213V, and perhaps not even any other Honda.

His race weekends were heavily influenced by his arm injury. On Friday he had to run more sparingly to save himself physically for the race, so his Sunday preparation was not optimal. Add to this his tireless work leading the development of the RC213V on Fridays, Marquez has faced a constant battle this year.

Once again, despite everything, he remains the best Honda rider and after Mugello he was ninth in the standings with 60 points, 20 more than team-mate Pol Espargaro, who seems to have the exit door from HRC in front of him for 2023 .

So even though his 2022 title hopes have been nonexistent, it’s clear that there is still a chance for Marquez to return to the rider he was before the injury: the rider who won six World Championships in his firsts. seven years of MotoGP, coming close to equaling the numbers of Valentino Rossi, who until before him seemed unattainable.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“The way I’m driving, I’m in too much pain and not having fun,” said Márquez after announcing his surgery. “Every weekend is a nightmare. But it’s true that my body is the same and the way to go now is to prepare for 2023. I want to thank Honda for believing in me and supporting me a lot.”

“There are ups and downs in a rider’s life. I can get on the podium at some circuits, but that’s not the way I want to race. I suffer a lot and that can lead to other injuries. I can’t continue to ride like this.”

The reason why Marquez did not undergo surgery earlier is that his right humerus was not yet ready for such a major operation. He received the green light for the operation on Friday at Mugello, between the two practice sessions. If the green light had come earlier, after finishing the Italian Grand Prix in tenth place, he admitted that he probably wouldn’t even have left for Tuscany.

Marquez traveled to the United States to undergo the operation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Dr. Joaquín Sánchez – recommended as the best in the business – oversaw the surgery. Honda team leader Alberto Puig explained the operation: “The surgery will consist of removing the osteosynthesis material in the right shoulder. In addition, there will be a humeral osteotomy to improve external rotation of the arm and shoulder stability. “.

Despite the success of the operation, the duration of the recovery times is not yet known, which could be between four and six months. Although he has already returned to Spain to begin rehabilitation, Marquez had revealed that his doctors had told him not to even think about undergoing the operation if he thought he could get on the bike quickly. In any case, it is likely that we will not see him in MotoGP again in 2022.

This is far from ideal for Honda in particular and for MotoGP in general. But it is a necessary sacrifice to make. In fact, few doubt that, once in full shape, Marquez will return to battle in the leading group.

“For me Marc has been, and is, the best rider of the last 10 years and has had some really difficult years”, said the reigning world champion, Fabio Quartararo, “For a rider, having an injury and coming back is already difficult. But he came back and won three races last year, he fought, he never gave up. “

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Whatever the decision,” he said before Marquez held the press conference, “I will support him and wish him the best of recovery. I hope he comes back and that we will have great battles, like in 2019”.

In the end, however, Marquez’s return to victory is almost irrelevant. The most important thing now is that you just go back to enjoying life. This, as he himself points out, will be the final victory.

“It has been a complicated year and a half, but it has strengthened me a lot and I hope it is a turning point to race the way I want,” Marquez said in his latest press conference with the media at Mugello. “Then, if we win or not, we’ll see. It’s not about surgery and winning; but surgery and having fun again, that will be a victory.”

And a Marquez having fun is already something that should start to scare the rest of the MotoGP grid …