What is behind Marquez's shoulder recovery photo?

If there is one thing those who regularly work with Marc Marquez agree on, it is that none of his moves are made at random. That applies to every aspect of his life, but particularly to his public image, which is managed by his own company, Vertical. With that in mind, it is easy to conclude that the image the Spaniard posted on his Instagram account last week – showing him shirtless, with his right shoulder and arm fully exposed – was not the result of a spontaneous impulse.

That shoulder and arm have endured seven operations over the past six years, and there was a clear intention behind the decision to show them. The very act of publishing the photo could be interpreted as a contradiction of something the rider had repeatedly said throughout the year.

“I want to try not to talk about my arm because it is what it is, and I have to race with it,” he said on several occasions, in an attempt to avoid the inevitable: having the media constantly return to the subject.

The Instagram post went in the opposite direction to that supposed desire to move on. And that, in itself, suggested a decision to change course. The new strategy was set in motion two weeks earlier at Silverstone, a circuit that, because of its characteristics, has become Marquez’s kryptonite.

The Spaniard spent much of the summer break preparing to arrive at the British Grand Prix with his arm as recovered as possible, after more than three weeks away from racing. Yet the response he got once he climbed back onto the bike at Silverstone was worse than he had expected.

On Saturday, he described what had happened during the sprint, in which he finished ninth, almost 14 seconds behind winner Jorge Martin, like this: “In the Sprint, normally you go out and push from start to finish, like in qualifying. For some reason, this time I couldn’t.”

On Sunday in Silverstone, speaking to the media, Marquez continued to deflect the issue when he was asked directly whether his seventh-place finish in the main race could be explained by the limitation caused by his arm.

“The reason is me; that’s what it is, and I have to manage it. It’s a matter of endurance.”

At that point, the reigning champion did not want to point to his arm as the main reason for his underwhelming performance. If there is one thing that sets him apart from the rest, it is that he has never been known for making excuses to justify a poor result.

It was not until the following Wednesday, during the ‘Inside’ video Ducati publishes on its social media channels after every grand prix, that the wider public understood just how compromised he had been.

“I was close to crashing because I had no control over my right arm,” Marquez told the engineers who are always waiting for him in the garage as he climbed off the bike. So why had he not been as explicit less than an hour later, when journalists had asked him specifically about the issue?

“Because Marc doesn’t make excuses, especially not in public,” said a source close to the rider from Cervera.

At Silverstone, Marquez began the process of accepting what is – and will remain – his new reality. His intention had always been to remove any physical excuse from the equation. Unfortunately for him, that Sunday he realised that the influence that shoulder will have on his performance from now on is so significant that it can no longer be ignored.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

“Marc has accepted that people will keep asking him about his arm and he wants to be transparent. He wants people to see what he sees every day when he looks in the mirror, and to get an idea of what is actually there. It’s not an excuse; it’s his reality,” this well-placed source explained.

The impact will depend on the circuit, but there will be tracks where Ducati’s flagship rider’s potential will be significantly reduced. That is especially relevant because it is not easy to fight for a championship against Martin and Marco Bezzecchi, who are currently riding the rocket Aprilia has produced.

“Marc’s right arm is very limited in terms of strength, particularly around the biceps. I think the expression that Marc is currently racing with one and a half arms fits the current condition of his right arm,” Samuel Antuna, Marquez’s trusted surgeon, said in an interview with El Periodico.

The doctor also alluded, albeit indirectly, to the shock Marquez experienced in Britain when he realised that the room for improvement was smaller and slower than he had anticipated.

“He is still recovering and there is room for improvement because the last surgery was only three months ago, and the biceps will continue to improve. But you don’t recover at the same speed or in the same way when you are 33 as you do when you are 22. It will take Marc a little longer to improve, but he is used to difficulties. Nobody has ever given him anything for free,” Antuna explained.

Marquez has already made it clear that he is completely focused on winning that elusive 10th world title, which would be his eighth in MotoGP. It is also true that he says he remains at peace with himself and that, if for whatever reason he fails to achieve it, it will not be a drama.

“I’m already at peace with myself after becoming world champion again last year. One more title won’t change my life,” he has said on several occasions.

So the desire for transparency does not apply only to his fans. It also applies to his rivals. They now know exactly what condition the rider is in who has won four of the last six races, including three double victories, while clawing back 66 points on the championship leader.