The Honda rider broke his right upper arm in a fall at the Spanish Grand Prix last July and has been incapacitated since his aborted comeback at the Andalusian GP the following week, which was undergoing surgery.
Marquez has had two surgeries since then, no later than December – where he underwent a bone graft – and finally pointed his recovery in the right direction.
His third surgery was thought to be accompanied by a six-month recovery period, but HRC doesn’t have an official update on it yet.
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During Honda’s 2021 presentation video, Marquez admits that he and his doctors don’t know when to drive again.
“Yeah, of course I’m getting a lot better step by step and I’m recovering well,” said Marquez.
“Every time I go to the doctor, we usually have good news.
“It’s really important because the last year has been pretty long and tough. But now we’re just trying to follow my body, with the physiotherapist, with the doctor, trying to step up the work at home a little bit.
“But I don’t know and the doctors don’t know when I’ll be ready.
“The most important thing is every week – not every day – but every week I feel a little better and I am optimistic that I will be on the bike as soon as possible.
“But I don’t know exactly when the day will be.”
When asked by Autosport if he has a goal in mind if he thinks he can return, Marquez has not ruled out the race in the Qatar GP – but will take it race after race, basing his ambitions on advice from doctors and how doing this will affect his workout.
“Yes, of course I have no idea at the moment,” he said.
“But I always try to be optimistic and achieve the next goal.
“So my goal was to take the Qatar Test. I’m not going to take the Qatar Test, but this week I will have a medical check-up and then my second goal will try to take the Qatar Race.”
“We will see if it is possible. If it is not possible it will try to be in Qatar 2. If it is not possible we will try to be in Portimao.
“But first of all, of course, the most important thing is that doctors verify that the bone consolidation is going well. If the doctor says the bone consolidation is okay, we will proceed with rehabilitation.”
“Of course it will take some time … I’m already working, but not aggressively.
“And if the bone consolidation is okay, when the feeling is 100%, I’ll try to keep working in a good way to get all my muscles relaxed and be in good shape to ride a bike.”
“Then when I feel that the bone consolidation is okay, my muscular and physical condition is in the right way – not 100% because it takes a lot of time, but in the right way, a MotoGP – Ride a bike, I’ll do it. ” “”
When asked what version of Marquez to expect on his return, he replied: “It is the first time in my life, my career that it has been nine months, ten months without it [riding a] Bike, with a major injury.
“When I ride my bike for the first time, I sure won’t be 100% because one thing is being 100% on the bone side and then 100% on the muscles.”
“We’ll see. Of course, I envision the best comeback that starts again and is the same, but it’s going to be difficult to be like that.
“But we’ll see if it takes a race, two races and a half to be the same Marc.” [as before]. “
