At the dawn of a new MotoGP season, Marc Márquez is preparing to take the handlebars again after a challenging recovery. As the first tests approach, the Spaniard faces a significant challenge: to regain not only his speed but also his physical endurance. Between optimism and concern, his return promises to be as thrilling as it is uncertain.
A difficult winter, but an unwavering will
Even today, Marc Márquez describes the championship he won last year as the ultimate success, having overcome the nightmare caused by his 2020 injury. However, as soon as he secured the title, the Spaniard was injured again, suffering a fracture and a ligament injury in his right shoulder, and he has not been seen on a MotoGP bike since early October.
As the return approaches, the fresh news about his physical condition that Márquez could provide this Monday, during the presentation of the Ducati factory team, was highly anticipated. “Once again, I experienced a long winter,” he explained when the official MotoGP website asked him about it, from Madonna Di Campiglio. “It was a bit harder than I expected. It wasn’t bad at first, but then there were some difficulties that delayed my return to a bike.”
The quest for endurance
Having overcome these difficulties, which he will not detail even though an unexpected operation was added, Márquez has finally resumed training, including riding – motocross at the end of December and then on a track bike about ten days ago. He was seen completing laps without showing any outward signs of weakness.
Nevertheless, the reigning champion knows precisely what he is missing. “Endurance,” he explained to the journalists gathered at the presentation, attended by Motorsport.com. “For example, I can ride very well for one day, at a normal level, but on the second day, I lose a lot. That means I need to keep working and try to work on long distances,” Marc Márquez anticipated, expected on the Ducati GP26 in two weeks for the first collective test of the year in Sepang.
A delicate preparation
“I can already predict that in Malaysia, I will feel great on the first day – even though Malaysia is a tough test for all riders – but that is precisely what is most difficult to control, the transition from the first to the second day, or doing two days in the gym. On the second day, I can’t perform well, whereas last year I managed it well.”
Marc Márquez does not hide his apprehensions: “We’ll see, there is a month and a half left [before the start of the championship] and I think I am on the right track. In any case, to ride a bike for a day, I am already back to my normal level.”
Another month and a half to finalise his recovery
While he believes he is on the right track today, Marc Márquez was still recently concerned about his physical sensations. “If you had asked me the question two weeks ago, I would have told you it was like this, like that. Like in any recovery, there are ups and downs, and I am starting to feel better and better now. I don’t know what percentage I am at, as I don’t know where my 100% will be. I think it will be like before, but I need to analyse that and we will see.”
Soon the return for Marc Márquez, but in what physical condition?
One goal: to regain speed
“Once again, I experienced a long winter, mentally difficult because I did a lot of physiotherapy and gym sessions lifting small weights. Little by little, I feel better and I can say that in Thailand I will be close to being at 100%. That was the goal and I think I will achieve it.”
Despite these long months of recovery and the slowness he may have felt before regaining his abilities, Márquez is sure of one thing: his pure speed is not in question. What the coming weeks will need to confirm, however, is that he will indeed manage to cross the final hurdle to combine performance and endurance, and thus be truly ready to face the Grands Prix.
“At first, on the first day I rode, I was obviously very stiff and I didn’t have the speed. On a single lap, I had the speed if I wanted, but not over a long distance. Now, little by little, I am starting to have the speed,” he emphasised, showing a constructive approach to this delicate period.
“That’s what I understood with my last injury: if I feel good physically, the speed is there. That’s why I wasn’t worried about missing the Valencia test, nor the Valencia race, because my weak point is my physical condition, so if I take care of that, the speed is there.”
