Injuries have plagued six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez for the past three seasons. Following a violent crash at Spain’s Jerez Circuit, the Repsol Honda rider sat out the rest of the 2020 season due to an arm injury. Marquez returned in 2021, tallying three wins before a late-season crash sidelined the eight-time world champ for the final two rounds of the season.
Number 93’s luck hasn’t been much better in 2022 either. Marquez’s diplopia (double vision) returned after a high-speed, high-side crash at turn 11 of Indonesia’s Mandalika Circuit. The injury forced the 29-year-old rider to sit out the Indonesian and Argentinian Grands Prix. He returned with strong results, however, capturing two sixth-place finishes and a fourth place in the next three races.
Unfortunately, Marquez’s form continued to decline from there. Prior to voluntarily bowing out of competition for a fourth arm surgery, the Honda rider barely finished in the top 10 of the Italian and Catalan GP. Marquez hoped that the mid-season surgery would allow him to return to peak condition by the start of the 2023 season, and his first post-operation check-up bodes well for that career-saving plan.
“My feelings so far are positive because I have no pain, this is very important,” admitted Marquez. “It allows me to rest and follow the doctors’ rules: a healthy diet, drink a lot and try to hang out with our dogs because it is important that body is not inactive. The most important thing from my doctors is that I have to be calm and patient."
Two weeks after going under the knife at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Marquez met with Dr. Joaquin Sánchez Sotelo, Dr. Samuel Antuña, and Dr. Angel Cotorro at Madrid, Spain’s Ruber Internacional Hospital. The team of doctors confirmed that the initial progress of Marquez’s right humerus has been positive, so much so that Dr. Sánchez Sotelo sent the rider away with homework.
“Starting today, he will begin performing controlled exercises of passive mobilization of the shoulder and elbow until a new revision in four weeks,” revealed Dr. Sánchez Sotelo.
The Honda rider will return for a second check-up following that four-week period. In that time, hopefully, he continues progressing toward full health and takes one step closer to the starting grid.
