Honda has to do without its MotoGP superstar for months: Alberto Puig confirms it’s a big problem for bike development
During the MotoGP weekend in Mugello, Marc Marquez announced that he will undergo a fourth operation on his right upper arm in the USA. Marquez is already in the United States and will undergo surgery on Thursday in Rochester, Minnesota. For Honda, Marquez’s presumably month-long forced break is a bitter setback.
“It’s very complicated. The last three seasons have been very difficult for us. But in life you don’t always get what you want,” commented HRC Team Manager Alberto Puig, who is concerned about the development of the Honda RC213V, which has been completely redesigned for 2022.
“Of course this can affect the development of our new bike. It is our goal and our duty to achieve the best possible result with the information we have. We have our test riders and three other riders who give us a lot of information,” explained the Honda team manager.
But it is clear that without Marquez, Honda has big problems to reach the goals they have set. “When a rider like Marc has to take a break and can’t ride the bike for a long time, then of course that has an impact on the engineers’ work. But that should not be an excuse,” said Alberto Puig.
Honda backing impresses Marc Marquez since 2020
Marquez himself is thrilled with the backing he has received from Honda since his fateful crash in July 2020. Marquez is usually in direct contact with those responsible in Japan. “Alberto keeps them informed all the time. But when things get critical, I contact them directly,” said the Spaniard.
“I already spoke in the 2020 season about HRC being very respectful with me. That is also the case now,” Marquez reports. “I informed them how the situation is and that I can continue like this until the end, keep riding like this, finish between fifth and tenth and maybe finish on the podium in some races. “
“They said that I am more important, that my life is more important. They want me to look after myself and they are waiting for me. It’s unbelievable that Honda treats me like this,” the eight-time world champion thanked his employer.
Is Marc Marquez’s ordeal coming to an end?
Since the third surgery in December 2020, Marquez has repeatedly struggled with setbacks. Permanent pain meant that the Spaniard had to take painkillers even in everyday life. Marquez wants to put an end to this ordeal and sees the fourth operation as the solution.
“My daily life has been severely restricted. I am one of the riders who always trains a lot on the bike. I ride motocross very intensively, train very often with the road bike and all other types of motorbikes. Now I have to take a break for two or three days because I can’t do anything except cycling to train the legs,” he reports.
“I have to do a lot of physio exercises and take painkillers. I have told my people that I will ride like this for another year or two at the most. I can’t enjoy it and I am suffering a lot. It is very difficult mentally. But hopefully with this operation my life will change again. The past two years have not been easy,” the former MotoGP champion sums up.