Marquez: Eye injury from 2011 a worse situation than broken arm
Absent MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says the eye injury he suffered in a Moto2 crash in 2011 was "more difficult" to deal with than his current broken arm


Honda announced on Saturday during the Styrian Grand Prix that Marquez's recovery from the broken arm he suffered at the Spanish GP has been extended by at least another two months.
Marquez re-broke the plate fitted to his right arm after his Jerez crash last month, which required another operation ahead of the Czech GP and ruled him out of the Brno/Red Bull Ring triple-header.
The Honda rider was expected to return to action in September for the Misano double-header, but now looks set to be back in action in late October at the earliest.
In 2011, Marquez's career was put into jeopardy when a crash during the Malaysian Moto2 weekend left him with a serious eye injury.
Speaking for the first time since Saturday's announcement, Marquez admits that situation was harder to manage than his current injury situation.
"I mean, of course all injuries are the most difficult moments," Marquez said.
"Especially the last one is always difficult, because it's something that all the humans have, this defect that we forget the past.
"But honestly speaking, from 2011 to 2012 the vision injury was more difficult because there I was at home but I didn't know if I was able to ride the bike again.
"Now it's a bone. Of course, it's an important injury but it looks like everything is going in the correct way, looks like I will be able to ride again which is my passion.

"So it's just [a case of] being patient and of course take time."
Commenting on the current championship battle in his absence, Marquez has tipped Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso and Petronas SRT's Fabio Quartararo, but believes the former is at a slight advantage because of his experience having finished runner-up in the standings since 2017.
"It's difficult to say, because if you ask me after Jerez I would say Fabio," Marquez said when asked about the championship battle.
"But in Brno, he struggled too much. If you want to be champion, ok you need to finish races, but it's not enough.
"You need to be in front and show you are there. He was struggling in practice [at the Styrian GP], also he looks like he's not as consistent as always as he showed last year.
"But if I need to bet somebody, difficult to say, but will be between Dovi and Fabio.
"Fabio has the speed, Dovi has the experience.
"If Dovi wins the championship I think everybody will be happy because he deserves too.
"He finished second in the last three seasons and he deserves.
"Also Fabio is a young talent and he showed last year he is very fast.
"So, I will bet between these two riders, but also we cannot forget [Maverick] Vinales who is there."

Dovizioso explains "strange" Styrian MotoGP qualifying
MotoGP Styria: Oliveira takes shock maiden win with last-corner move

Latest news
Why WTR Acura lacked pace to beat MSR in Daytona 24 showdown
Filipe Albuquerque admits that he knew it would be a tall order for Wayne Taylor Racing to overcome sister Acura squad Meyer Shank Racing in last weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
How MSR took Acura to the first win of sportscar racing's new era
After much anticipation, the new dawn for sportscar racing got underway with a result that mirrored last year's IMSA SportsCar Championship's season-opener run to the previous DPi rules. Here's how Acura once again took top honours in the Daytona 24 Hours with a 1-2 led by Meyer Shank Racing, as the new GTP class for LMDh hybrid prototypes made its bow
Alonso's pushy trait a boost for me in 2023 F1 season, says Stroll
Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll says Fernando Alonso's pushy nature will be a boost to both him and the squad this year.
Porsche aims to “learn quick” from Daytona 24 Hours disappointment
Porsche’s director of factory racing Urs Kuratle says his team will gain valuable answers from its disappointing results in the Daytona 24 Hours.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.