Marquez cleared to ride bikes again, Qatar MotoGP return hopes boosted
Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has been cleared by doctors to ride a motorcycle for the first time since July, boosting his Qatar Grand Prix return hopes
Marquez broke his right humerus in a crash during last year’s season-opening Spanish GP at Jerez, and has been out of action since an aborted comeback a few days after surgery at the Andalusian GP.
The Honda rider has had three operations on his arm, the latest coming in December, which finally moved his recovery in the right direction after the healing process was slowed by an infection from his second surgery in August.
Marquez made it clear during Honda’s 2021 launch event last month that he hadn’t ruled out starting the first race of the season in Qatar at the end of March, with the Spaniard appearing on the provisional entry list for the Qatar GP.
As Autosport has learned, these prospects have taken a boost after the doctors who operated on him have cleared him to begin training on motorcycles.
Though with just two weeks until the first race weekend of the year and absent from pre-season testing, Marquez lining up on the Qatar GP grid is not a given following this latest development in his recovery.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Repsol Media
In a video released by Honda earlier this week, Marquez said about his recovery: “The sensations are very good.
“We have recently started to work on strength, but the progression is very fast.
“The difference between the left and right arms is getting smaller and smaller and, on a cardiovascular level, I look ready.
“I am waiting for the doctor to discharge me from the doctor and for me to feel good muscularly, to take a motorcycle.
“I feel that that moment is getting closer and closer.”
He added: “What I am not going to do is ride a MotoGP [bike] all at once.
“I will start with a small motorcycle, to see how I feel and, if I am doing well, because next time I will ride a bigger one, a [Honda] CBR1000, on a large circuit, to feel again the sensations of going 300km/h.”
Espargaro: First Honda MotoGP crash "not the one I was waiting for"
KTM 'hitting a wall' in Qatar MotoGP testing
Why Honda and Yamaha have been left behind in MotoGP's new era
The once all-conquering Japanese manufacturers are going through a difficult period in MotoGP this season. With Suzuki quitting, Honda struggling to get near the podium and Yamaha only enjoying success courtesy of Fabio Quartararo, Japanese manufacturers have been left in the dust by their European counterparts. Key paddock figures explain why.
Who is Valentino Rossi’s newest MotoGP star?
Valentino Rossi’s protégés stole the show at Assen as Francesco Bagnaia stormed to victory to arrest a recent barren run. But it was the rider in second, on Bagnaia’s old bike, who had all eyes on him. Securing his and the VR46 team’s first MotoGP podium, Marco Bezzecchi has all the characteristics that made his mentor special
How Quartararo is evoking an absent MotoGP great in 2022
OPINION: Fabio Quartararo has seized control of the 2022 MotoGP world standings after another dominant victory as his nearest rivals faltered. And he is very much heading towards a second championship echoing how the dominator of the last decade achieved much of his success
The human importance of Marquez’s latest enforced MotoGP absence
OPINION: Marc Marquez will likely sit out the remainder of the 2022 MotoGP season to undergo a fourth major operation on the right arm he badly broke in 2020. It is hoped it will return him to his brilliant best after a tough start to the season without a podium to his name. But it’s the human victory that will far outweigh any future on-track success he may go on to have
Why Ducati holds all the power in its MotoGP rider dilemma
OPINION: The French Grand Prix looks to have made Ducati’s decision on its factory team line-up simpler, as Enea Bastianini stormed to his third win of the campaign and Jorge Martin crashed out for a fifth time in 2022. But, as Ducati suggests to Autosport, it remains in the strongest position in a wild rider market
The seismic aftershock left by Suzuki's decision to leave MotoGP
Suzuki's sudden decision to leave the MotoGP World Championship at the end of the season has acted as a stirring element in a market that had already erupted. Autosport analyses what this means for the grid going into 2023
How the real Ducati began to emerge in MotoGP’s Spanish GP
Ducati’s 2022 MotoGP bike has had a tough start to life and the expected early-season title charge from Francesco Bagnaia did not materialise. But the Spanish Grand Prix signalled a turning point for both the GP22 and Bagnaia, as the 2021 runner-up belatedly got his season underway after a straight fight with Fabio Quartararo
How Honda's praise for its 2022 MotoGP bike has turned into doubt
In a little over two months, Honda has gone from setting the pace in MotoGP testing with its new RC213V prototype to being at a crossroads - caused by the discrepancy in its riders' feedback. After a Portuguese GP that underwhelmed, serious questions are now being asked of Honda in 2022