Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez will miss this weekend’s Algarve Grand Prix at Portugal’s Portimao circuit, after sustaining a concussion at the weekend while training on an off-road machine.
The news is the first setback sustained in some months by the eight-time world champion’s return from serious injury last year, and comes after back-to-back wins at the previous two rounds of the 2021 MotoGP championship.
Marc Marquez to miss Algarve Grand Prix
This past Saturday Marc Marquez, while preparing for the Algarve Grand Prix with one of his standard off-road training sessions, suffered a fall that caused a slight head concussion.https://t.co/WdDGicQ4CI pic.twitter.com/mXNJtvnjGC
— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) November 2, 2021
In a brief statement released ahead of Portimao, the second visit of the year to the circuit and the scene of his return to racing after missing almost the entire 2020 season with a serious arm injury, his team confirmed that he would sit out the weekend as a precaution.
“This past Saturday Marc Marquez, while preparing for the Algarve Grand Prix with one of his standard off-road training sessions, suffered a fall that caused a slight head concussion,” read the statement.
“After a few days of rest at home and seeing that he was still unwell, today Marquez has been assessed by doctors in a medical check-up to evaluate his current status.
“As a precautionary measure, this coming weekend Marquez will not contest the Algarve Grand Prix.”
The news comes after successive wins for the former champion for the first time since 2019, at both the Circuit of the Americas and Misano – and will be a setback to his plans to finish the season strongly before concentrating on a return to title-challenging status for 2022.
“The next step of course is to try and concentrate on the last two races, and I would like as a minimum to try and finish in the top five of both,” Marquez said when asked by The Race about his targets for the final rounds after winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“It can be a conservative mode, but they are two races in a row and I don’t know how I will feel. But top five is a good target, and if we can do better we will push.
“In the winter time first of all I need to take a rest, and just try to understand if just by taking a rest I can improve.
“We are trying to analyse well the situation, to make a good plan, and try not to be 100% in February. I want to be 100% when the season starts in Qatar. That will be the main target.”
