MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has admitted that he remains unsure how long it will take him to return to the track as he continues to recover from the arm fracture he sustained at Jerez in July.
Marquez tried to return to action swiftly following the break, riding again only a week later at the Spanish circuit but sustaining further damage in the process.
Ruled out of the action since then, he has now failed to score points in the opening seven races of the year.
“I don’t know if I will be on the bike in one month, in two weeks or in two months” :: Marc Marquez
In a statement last month, the Honda team confirmed that Marquez was set to miss a considerable amount of the year, with a rehabilitation process potentially as long as three months all but ruling him out of action for the entire MotoGP season.
And, speaking today in an interview released by the team on the eve of his home race at Barcelona, Marquez has conceded that he’s still uncertain about how much longer he will be forced to watch from the sofa.
“Three months is a lot,” he admitted. “When I was with the doctors we tried to understand and to listen to different opinions, different doctors and they said around three months. In the beginning it’s a shock to a rider but now, which moment?
“Now I am in the moment where I start to feel the big steps with my body. So now every day, every week, I feel something different.
“The first three weeks were the same because I didn’t feel anything, and I didn’t feel any improvement. But now I start to feel some improvements, we start to work at the gym, I start to train.
“So, in which moment I don’t know, I know that I am closer to being on a bike, that is the most important.
“I know that we are in a good way, but I don’t know if I will be on the bike in one month, in two weeks or in two months. I don’t know this; this is something that my body will answer.”
Physically, he’s been making strong steps forward as doctors have permitted him to return to using his arm. Using a various armour and shields to ensure that he’s protected from further damage, he’s pleased with his recovery to date.
Despues de 6 semanas de la operacion, primer entrenamiento! Carrera continua 30min🏃🏽♂️
After 6 weeks from the surgery, first training session! Running 30min😁 pic.twitter.com/XdiNbMW1G7— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) September 15, 2020
“About the physical side, now I am in a good moment. But of course, I am still far from my normal level.
“It’s true that last week, I started to do some running and cycling. From the cardio side, the legs and the left arm, my condition is quite good.
“But about the right arm, still I need to make some big steps but now we are starting to do more exercises. I am looking forward to starting to push a little bit more in the gym. But at the moment we must respect the timings and just be patient.
“Where I suffer the most is during the race weekend because you are watching the race, all the practice sessions, from the TV and it is not easy” :: Marc Marquez
“In the beginning I had a lot of protection, from the hand to the top of the arm and it was like completely rigid. Then step by step we used this carbon protection that you saw on social media that was from the elbow to the shoulder.
“And now, in normal life I am not using anything expect for training, especially when I am cycling, still I am using that carbon protection because it fixes the bone and the arm in place a little bit better.
“Now I am starting to forget about the protections, and I hope that next week we are already able to remove the protection from all the things we do.”
Rather unsurprisingly given his love of riding motorcycles, it sounds like the mental recovery process has been harder for Marquez than the physical element.
“It was hard in the beginning. Because you know, there was nothing to do at home, the days and even the hours were very, very long but now we have a plan a for each day.
“We do two sessions of physio and then we also train in the gym with my trainer, the left arm, the legs, along with some cardio.
“So now the mental side is feeling much better, the moment where I suffer the most is during the race weekend because you are watching the race, all the practice sessions from the TV and it is not easy. Aside from this, we can say that I’m happy now. I’m happy because I already feel that we have made some steps forward.”
That has been aided by a return to training – an area that will take considerable work given the time spent on the sofa. One of MotoGP’s most muscled riders – a prerequisite to successfully riding the aggressive RC213V – he’s got a long road there too.
“I missed training, especially the first two weeks but what I’m missing more is being on a motorbike. Now I’m in a situation where I hope to come back soon on a small bike or something like this but at the moment, we have to just respect the process, the timings from the doctors.
“Now I start to feel ready, but this is when it becomes a little dangerous because when you feel ready, you want more and more but I just have to try to understand what my body is saying.
“I have started cycling and running and I expected it to be much worse because for like four, five weeks I was completely just on the sofa watching TV. But I started running and immediately from the first day I felt good and I started to see improvements, with cycling too.
“The most difficult thing is the muscle on the right arm but even this is better than I expected.
“The muscle is still there, it’s working well. The most important thing is that all the movements are OK and now step by step with my physio Carlos, he is living with me in my house, we will start to work hard to improve, following the correct steps in the correct time.”
