On Saturday, Marc Marquez gets back on a MotoGP bike after more than three months, the 2022 Honda RC213V – he had doubts about the comeback
The three-day MotoGP shakedown test in Sepang (Malaysia) has been completed. The official two-day test will follow at the same location this weekend. For after the test riders and rookies of the 2022 MotoGP teams were still among themselves at the shakedown test (exception: Aprilia was completely on site), all the regular riders will be in action on Saturday and Sunday.
This also includes Marc Marquez. For the eight-time motorbike world champion, the Sepang test will be his comeback on a MotoGP bike after yet another month-long injury lay-off.
The last time Marquez sat on the RC213V was on 24 October 2021 during his victory ride at Misano (Italy). A few days later, the crash happened near his property in Cervera (Spain) during off-road training. And this fall with an off-road machine brought back the old eye injury from the winter of 2011/12.
Now, three months later, Marquez is fit again and looks forward to the Sepang test full of anticipation. “I’m really looking forward to getting back on my MotoGP bike. I already get goosebumps thinking about this moment,” Marquez confesses in his latest blog on the website of Honda’s main sponsor Repsol.
The past months have once again been a real test of patience for Marquez. “If I had to describe my winter in one word, I don’t know which one I would choose. The fact is that it was up and down, chaotic at times. Maybe the best way to describe it is that it’s been another difficult winter,” said the Honda factory rider.
Due to the recent injury to the optic nerve in his right eye, Marquez had considerable doubts during the winter as to when he would be able to make a MotoGP comeback. Even more: “There were times when I didn’t know when I would be able to ride again, or if I would be able to ride at all. ”
📍Sepang International Circuit 🇲🇾 #Malaysia pic.twitter.com/Qo7BbGxLX4
— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) February 3, 2022
As he did when he first injured his optic nerve in the winter of 2011/12 when he was still a Moto2 rider, Marquez again relied on the advice of Doctor Sanchez Dalmau. That advice called for conservative treatment that required time and patience. “I stuck to that,” says the MotoGP star and continues, “Thanks to his advice, the regeneration was a success and I was able to regain my vision. ”
After initially not being allowed to train for months, Marquez tried to make up for the lost hours from the moment he got the green light from Doctor Dalmau. “That was in the middle of January. Since then I’ve been training again,” the Honda factory rider refers to how he has since been active with an off-road bike, a Honda RC213V-S, a Honda CBR 600 and also a kart.
The real test for Marquez, however, will come on Saturday when he gets back on his Honda RC213V for the first time since October 24, 2021. “The Sepang test will help me to better assess my physical condition. It will also allow me to compare how much better my arm is than last year. ”
“Apart from that,” Marquez continued, “[the test] will be useful to assess the work done by HRC and see where we are with the new bike.” The official Honda team presentation for the 2022 MotoGP season will take place next Tuesday (8 February). (Overview MotoGP bikes 2022: Dates of the presentations and photos of the bikes presented so far)
