Marc Marquez has been ruled out of the MotoGP season finale and subsequent Jerez test because his latest injury has developed into a repeat of past vision problems.
Marquez missed last weekend’s Algarve Grand Prix at Portimao having sustained concussion while training on an off-road motorbike. Stefan Bradl stood in for him.
On Tuesday morning his Honda team announced that Marquez’s situation was more complicated than it had first appeared.
He had previously suffered from double vision after a heavy crash in Sepang practice near the end of his Moto2 rookie year in 2011 (pictured below).
That ended his season at a time when he was only three points behind eventual champion Bradl, and continued problems that winter meant he ultimately required surgery in January 2012 ahead of what proved to be his title-winning Moto2 campaign.
Marquez described his latest situation as “like 2011” in his social media post about the new vision problem.
“After Marc Marquez underwent a medical examination at the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona last Tuesday, in which he was evaluated after a fall while practicing off-road, the rider has been resting all week at his home in Cervera,” said a Honda statement.
“During these days of rest, Marc has continued to feel unwell and has suffered from vision problems, which is why this Monday he was visited by the ophthalmologist Dr Sanchez Dalmau at the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, who examined him and performed the tests, which detected a new episode of diplopia.”
He will therefore miss this weekend’s Valencia race and the two-day Jerez test during the following week. Bradl is expected to continue to stand in.
After the Jerez test, MotoGP running is paused until 2022 pre-season testing next February.
Marquez’s latest blow follows the serious arm injury sustained in the 2020 season-opener that ruled him out of that whole campaign and this year’s first two rounds, as well as affecting his form ever since.
“We need patience but if I have learned one thing it’s to face adversity with positivity,” said Marquez in his post.
