MotoGP: Marc Marquez: “Trying to return to Jerez was a mistake”
Following from originally being happy about trying to return at Jerez, Marc Marquez has performed a U-Turn on this.
Initially, when Marc Marquez originally tried to return at the Jerez 2 round following the break of his right humerus the week before, Marquez was happy that him and his team chose to let him ride, saying he would not have been able to sleep knowing he did not try, which is something you would expect from a rider of his stature, he is an 8 x World Champion and achieving records like this require risks.
The risk vs reward ratio for Marquez at the time was more in favour of the reward; Doctors told him he could race and passed physical fitness tests, therefore the only risk to him was crashing and potentially aggravating the injury worse, whereas the reward was scoring vital world championship points which would’ve aided him to take the title which was won by 13 points by Joan Mir; therefore an extra 10 points in his back pocket following the DNF in the previous race would’ve greatly assisted his title charge.
What was not accounted for was what riding a 300HP motorcycle would do to the plate in his arm, the stress of doing so was so great that it weakened it to the point whereby Marquez broke the plate opening a sliding door. He was never advised that the plate could potentially break and said, “I am brave but not senseless. If they tell me that the plate can break, I would not have gotten on a 300km/h motorcycle.” Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh?
The impact of the plate breaking was huge, Marquez needed a second surgery to apply a new plate to his arm which eventually turned into a third operation to replace this plate again and perform a bone transplant due to the bone not healing itself, ending his 2020 season in the second round and potentially causing him to miss half of the 2021 season also.
Speaking to DAZN Espana, Marquez spoke about the season and what happened saying, “I have been taught many things this year, firstly, that the attempt to return after the injury was hasty. The plate broke at home, opening a sliding door to go out to the garden.
The plate did not break there, it did so as a result of the stress which was created in Jerez.”
Eventually admitting it was a mistake to return at Jerez given how this has impacted him, “Trying to return to Jerez was a mistake. I’ve learned that the riders do not see fear, therefore, the Doctors have to make us realise the fear.
After an operation, the first question of every rider is: when can I get back on the bike? But, the doctor needs to know how to stop you, he is the one who has to be realistic. I went to Jerez with the peace of mind that the plate held because they told me so.”
Featured image – www.motogp.com
Source – DAZN Espana
