Santi Hernandez, long-time crew chief of Marc Marquez, ranks his fitness ahead of the comeback at Aragon and reveals, “He keeps surprising me “
Tomorrow’s practice Friday will be Marc Marquez’s first return to the track in a race weekend since Mugello. After private testing and the two-day official MotoGP test at Misano, the Spaniard feels ready to compete in a motorbike Grand Prix again.
“The test was very important for him to understand if he can ride here,” explained his long-time crew chief Santi Hernandez in Aragon on Thursday. “The result was positive. Now we have to wait and see how it goes, because a race weekend is still very different from a test.”
Marquez completed a total of 100 laps during the two days of testing at Misano, which speaks to his physical progress. “He is here because he believes he can handle the race distance,” Hernandez stresses. Still, they are approaching the first race weekend since his fourth surgery on his right upper arm with caution.
Hernandez: Results are secondary now
“He is smart. He knows his situation very well and of course he won’t try anything crazy. The team won’t put him under pressure there either. The most important thing is that he is back and that he gets the feeling for driving again. The results are not important at the moment,” said Marquez’s crew chief.
If what they wanted to achieve with the fourth surgery is confirmed, namely to be able to ride in a more natural position on the bike, the results will come sooner or later anyway. The signs are good.
“We could already see in Misano that he can now ride in a better position again. Before, he had to ride in a very unfamiliar position for him and change his style accordingly. In Misano he came back to a more normal position,” Hernandez expressed cautious optimism.
Will we see the old Marc Marquez again soon?
“Of course he needs more laps and more strength in his arms. But it looks like the surgery has really helped on that point and he can ride more like he used to.” And even with a step-by-step approach, one thing hasn’t changed for the crew chief.
Because when asked if Marquez still surprises him after all these years, he says: “Of course! After four surgeries and all that he’s been through, he’s still here trying to be competitive. He hasn’t had an easy road, but still does everything he can to keep going. He surprises me every day. “
At the same time, Hernandez admits, “It’s been a tough time without him. But the approach is still the same. He hasn’t changed. Sure he was away for a long time. But the mentality has remained the same.” The passion, he said, is still there.
“Even when he was at Misano on the race weekend, without riding himself, his first thought was how we can improve the bike,” the crew chief reveals, praising, “Then when he tested at Misano, the feedback was very good. He hasn’t forgotten anything and still knows how to give input to the engineers. “
