To wish everyone happy holidays, Marc Marquez posted a photo next to a Christmas tree. His right arm was protected by the carbon orthosis, which has unfortunately become famous in recent months. A kind of armor.
Only a few days until the end of the year there is no information about the physical condition of the champion. The last official statement was made when Marc was leaving the hospital in Madrid, where he had undergone his third operation … then complete silence, punctuated by some rumors of an alleged nerve injury. At the moment we can only wait to see what the doctors say about Marc getting back on his bike.
Marquez’s absence from the first winter tests at Sepang in just over a month is virtually certain, while the start of the championship is still four months away according to the official calendar (the first race is scheduled for Qatar on March 28). .
Will Marc be able to fully recover from his injury and be on the track by then? There is no answer to that at the moment. And that forces Honda to solve a big problem: how and, above all, how long Marc should be replaced.
Andrea Dovizioso’s name has been mentioned several times in the last few months, but it is not the intention of the Italian rider to play the role of a “coin operated rider”, namely a stopgap measure. and then get off the track when Marquez returns.
Recently a fascinating but impossible idea came up: Allow the Repsol team three bikes, as they did in 2011 when Dovi teamed up with Pedrosa and Stoner.
This would allow Honda to start with Dovizioso and Pol Espargarò, then Marc would join them once his arm problems were resolved.
But the Christmas story doesn’t have a happy ending. As reported by Motorionline, Carmelo Ezpeleta was clear on this point: “Exceptions are impossible. It will not be possible to have more than two bikes per team. Honda has two for the Repsol team and two more for Lucio Cecchinello’s.”
For the big boss at Dorna, that’s the end of it. Honda’s top management has to solve the problem. But first we need to find out when Marquez will be back on the track.