How MotoGP's record smasher is facing his toughest challenge

In the latter stages of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix - the opener to the COVID-delayed season - Marc Marquez crashed heavily and badly broke his right arm.

Following surgery on the Monday after the Spanish GP, he tried to come back a week later at the Andalusian GP but this proved to be a massive mistake as it weakened the metalwork inserted in his arm, which would break a few weeks later and necessitate a further surgery.

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The recovery time from this second operation was extremely protracted and ultimately ruled him out of the entire campaign, the cause found to be an undiagnosed infection in his arm. A third, incredibly risky, operation followed in December, but there was no guarantee Marquez would ever be back.

But in April, at the Portuguese GP, Marquez made an emotional return to action in which he ended the race as top Honda runner in seventh - Marquez showing more emotion in that one result than most had ever seen in his entire career.

Victory at the right-arm friendly Sachsenring further propelled him back to where he was, but the road has been long and the process slower than he'd anticipated.

But, as he explains in an exclusive interview with Autosport, he's extremely confident in what he can achieve when he is back to full fitness.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Repsol Media

AUTOSPORT: At Portimao I had the feeling that absolutely everyone was happy to see you back, and that's not very common...

Marc Marquez: "Obviously it's better that people were happy, but it wasn't a big concern because I had enough to do with my own thing. But yes, the reception was very good, both from the other teams, the people in charge and the other riders."

AS: Who is the rider who has surprised you the most so far?

MM: "I would say Fabio [Quartararo], basically because of the situation he arrived in last year, when he seemed to end up a bit lost. But this season he turned it around from the start."

"I think the pre-injury Marc could challenge for the title with this bike. Surely I couldn't win as many [races] as in 2019 (12), but I could fight for the world championship and be in the top three very often" Marc Marquez

AS: And from whom did you expect a bit more?

MM: "I don't want to give any names because I would also have to give ours."

AS: Last year, to explain Quartararo's inconsistency, you pointed to his inexperience in coping with the pressure of being the reference and leading the championship. Do you think he has made a step forward in that aspect?

MM: "It's a whole set of things. There's a technical side, there's a confidence side, but obviously experience plays a big part. Until last year he had not challenged for the championship, neither in Moto3 nor in Moto2. Now he has that experience, he has been in the position to win a world championship and not do it. And he is managing it well.

"Everything is a wheel: the more confidence you have, the better the results, and that gives you more motivation, which helps you at the same time. Now he knows that, no matter how well one year goes, as in his case happened in 2019, it doesn't mean that the next one will go the same way.

"I learned that in 2015, when I was coming off one of my best years in MotoGP (in 2014 he won the first ten races and 13 out of 18 overall), and it didn't go well at all. And you are warned about that, you see it happen to others, but until you experience it yourself you don't understand it."

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

AS: The first grand prix in Spielberg, after returning from a holiday in which you were able to "get back to normal life" as you said, was it a cold shower because you expected to be much better physically?

MM: "I came back from the summer with very high expectations because I had been training well at home and I felt very good, but we probably came to the worst circuit of all for the right arm area, because it has a lot of corners in that direction and very hard braking. And, of course, the higher the expectations, the more frustration you feel if you don't achieve your goal."

AS: And how did you deal with that frustration?

MM: "Obviously, on the first ride I couldn't believe that my shoulder was still bothering me so much. But once I got over it, I soon came back to my reality and that made me keep working with the same mentality.

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AS: How would you explain to people the limitation of your arm at the moment?

MM: "Easy: when you are thirsty and you go to get a glass of water, you don't think about how you pick it up and drink, you do it automatically. Well, I have to think about how I should position my arm when entering a braking manoeuvre to avoid pain, and that conditions me in the corner.

"Obviously, I'm internalising this procedure and I feel better as the weekend goes on, because I'm making it more and more automatic. But I can't ride by instinct. Apart from that, there are always unforeseen events, movements that cause discomfort. And no matter how much you don't want to think about it, it reappears."

In Marquez's absence in 2020, Honda registered its first winless campaign in MotoGP dating back to its full-time return in 1982. That Marquez is the only Honda rider to win a race over the last two seasons is telling of just how difficult the current RC213V is.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Dorna

AS: You always talk about your physical condition and the bike as a whole. But what do you think the Marc Marquez of before the injury would be doing with this same bike?

MM: "I think the pre-injury Marc could challenge for the title with this bike. Surely I couldn't win as many [races] as in 2019 (12), but I could fight for the world championship and be in the top three very often. And I think so for one simple reason: on the tracks where I haven't felt the physical limitation, or I've felt it less, I've been much better. But I can't always make up for it myself, the bike has to help me and it doesn't do that now. Neither for me nor for the other Honda riders."

AS: Does that mean that Honda has to change its bike philosophy from now on?

MM: "My intention is to go back to being the Marc I was before. It is clear to me that, as long as I am physically well, I can be that rider again. I don't know if it will be enough to win titles or not. To fight for them I think so, but to win them I don't know, because the rivals also improve.

"Now my physique allows me to ride a bike, but I can't do magic. If I were far behind the other riders of the brand I would think that something was wrong. But I'm ahead of them despite missing two races. And let's be clear, that's not my goal at all."

"I didn't race all year, so I told them to pay me whatever they wanted. I didn't do my part. But it's a natural thing if there is trust with your team" Marc Marquez

AS: What happened last season at HRC?

MM: "Personally it was a lost year, both personally and professionally. And for Honda, when you consider that they had to bring in a rookie (Alex, his brother), that [Cal] Crutchlow was at the end of his career, it was also a lost year in the evolution of the bike."

AS: To what extent do you take less risks than in the past when you ride? I say that because you see far fewer saves than you used to?

MM: "I take the same risks, but it's true that at the moment I don't have the confidence to get into those extreme situations that used to lead to saves. I still don't have that control. Every scare makes me less confident."

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Honda Racing

AS: Since your return in Portugal, we have seen a more emotional rider, who lets his feelings come out more than usual. Have you taken a weight off your shoulders in that respect?

MM: "It's not that I have taken a weight off my shoulders because it comes naturally to me. Depending on what feelings I like to express them in private: with my team, in the garage. But there are some feelings that you can't control, for example those of happiness. On the contrary, it doesn't happen: if I'm angry, I try not to show it."

AS: In 2020, you signed the biggest contract of any driver in the history of the world championship - for four years, at a rate of more than 20 million euros per season. Then came COVID, there was a tremendous regularisation and you missed the whole season. Does that contract weigh on you?

MM: "When you sign a four-year contract, with a brand like Honda and the figures involved, you obviously feel that commitment. But you already feel it when you start a project like this. That responsibility doesn't weigh on me when it comes to racing, but obviously I feel it.

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"The good thing is that I have the confidence to talk to Honda, as I did last season. I didn't race all year, so I told them to pay me whatever they wanted. I didn't do my part. But it's a natural thing if there is trust with your team. I've been with Honda for a long time and the relationship is good, both with Alberto [Puig, the team manager] and the rest of the Japanese staff. I have always felt very respected."

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Repsol Media