Marc Marquez has admitted his rather daring efforts to prove he is superhuman by returning to MotoGP just days after the “rushed” major surgery, but somewhat controversially, he shows the doctors the blame for not having him have kept from doing so.
Marquez’s attempts to clinch a seventh MotoGP World Championship in eight years came to an abrupt end just 21 laps after the first race of the postponed season at Jerez when he fell out trying to fight his way back from an earlier moment off the track.
When he fell at high speed, a brief blow from his Repsol Honda’s tire fractured his arm as he dropped and required surgery in the days following the Spanish incident. Even so, Marquez was back on his bike just a few days later, only to retire in the middle of the race weekend because of the pain.
The motorcycles we can’t wait to see in 2021
It was the last time we saw the Spaniard in 2020. Marquez needed a second operation to repair a panel inserted into the arm that was damaged when a window was opened.
On the subject of matching items
In hindsight, Marquez admits it was not advisable to return so quickly, but goes on to say that the responsibility should lie with the doctors who allow him to do so.
“This year taught me a lot. The first that the attempt to return after the injury was hasty. My plate broke at home and opened a sliding door through which I have to go into the garden. But the record didn’t break there, but because of the stress that arose in Jerez.
“Trying to return to Jerez was a mistake. I’ve learned that the riders have a virtue and a defect, which is that the riders don’t see fear, so the doctors have to let us see that.
“After the first operation, the first question every rider will ask is: When can I get back on the bike? And it’s the doctor who has to stop you, he’s the one who has to be realistic. I went to Jerez knowing the plate would hold because they told me to.
“I am brave, but not passed out. If they tell me the plate could break, I wouldn’t have got on a 300 km / h motorcycle. “
Marquez has recovered in a Madrid hospital after undergoing a third operation on his arm after contracting an infection that slowed the recovery process.
Although five months have passed since that second surgery, speculation has risen that the injury could affect his future involvement in the sport to the extent that he may not be ready to compete in the 2021 MotoGP season around.