Marc Marquez’s time with Honda appears to have hit a new nadir during warm up for MotoGP’s German Grand Prix with yet another crash, this time one that’s left him with a fractured finger.
And his response to his fifth crash of the weekend at the Sachsenring highlighted just how punishing this weekend has been so far for the six-time world champion at a circuit where in the past he has dominated.
Never defeated in a race at the Sachsenring since his second year in the 125cc world championship in 2009 until Saturday’s sprint race, where he admitted to The Race he finished in a safe seventh rather than taking any greater risk on a Honda that has become almost impossible to ride, it already looked like a tough weekend going into Sunday’s main race.
However, a crash in warm up for the race at Turn 6 somehow managed to turn an already-bad situation into an even worse one. Highsiding on the downhill exit from the corner, he landed heavily on his head before cartwheeling into the gravel trap – and, unlike his qualifying crash on Saturday, didn’t jump to his feet and sprint back to the pits for another bike.
Rather after taking time to pick himself up after the punishing crash, he then rather dizzily walk away from the side of the track to the circuit’s service road – where, rather than jumping on a scooter to return to the Repsol Honda garage, he sat down with marshals for the remainder of the 10-minute session.
Looking not just winded but potentially concussed after the head impact, the crash draws unhappy comparisons with his fall in warm up for the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix last year – a crash where a traumatic brain injury saw the return of the diplopia that cost him a championship in Moto2, and meant that he missed both that race and the next one in Argentina.
He went to MotoGP’s medical centre for a check-up following the session where he was found to have “a very small fracture in the first finger of his left hand”. He was then declared fit for the race.
A painful start to the day for @marcmarquez93 💥
That's a vicious T7 tumble for the #93 ⚠️#GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/pN1FGlvGmA
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 18, 2023
The images of a dejected-looking Marquez sitting trackside marks a new low in the already troubled relationship with Honda.
The Sachsenring inarguably presents his best chance for the season at a much-needed race win, and the fact that it’s proving not just elusive but punishingly impossible for him to find any speed at all on the RC213V means that it’s difficult to not draw a start conclusion about his future with Honda.
