Marc Marquez: Indonesia 'worst GP of my career', vision injury 'makes me scared'
The six-time MotoGP champion elected to miss the Argentina weekend despite being very close to recovery from his latest bout of diplopia.
However, following renewed motivation, and a final fitness test which involved a track day aboard a CBR600RR earlier this week, Marquez is making his return at a circuit he’s been pretty much untouchable at.
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"For Argentina I was very close to coming, but I didn’t feel motivated," said a very open and honest Marquez.
"I didn’t feel motivated to take that risk in Argentina and I didn’t want to. I discussed it with the doctor and we decided to stay home, relax.
"I started to train again in a good way and this week I had another doctor check and the vision was fixed.
"Of course I arrive not in the best way, but we will try to do a great FP1 and then from that point start our weekend."
Is this a new Marquez we're seeing?
Hearing Marquez use the words ‘I didn’t feel motivated’ is a huge surprise given the determination and fight he’s so far shown in his recovery attempts, not to mention his on-track style, something that’s helped shape the rider he is today.
But given the continuous beatings his body has had to endure since 2020 - has suffered five huge injuries - it’s easy to understand why Marquez is taking more and more advice from doctors onboard.
With that being said, Marquez has a chance to reclaim his spot atop MotoGP this weekend, even after his last time on-track resulted in it being the ‘worst GP of my career’.
Speaking during the pre-event press conference, Marquez added: "Actually I don’t remember a lot. I remember more from the video and the images rather than what I felt and remembered.
"It’s true that Indonesia was the worst GP of my career. I crashed too many times, there were crashes I didn’t understand and the warm-up crash I was with a new rear tyre and I just had the highside.
"But anyway, it’s the past and now is time to build again that confidence and build again the process.
"It was really hard in Indonesia but it was harder during that next week. Lucky for me I’m here."
Although it comes as no surprise that Marquez is not feeling as confident with his 2022 RC213V following the disaster in Mandalika, the Spaniard claims to be in better shape than Qatar, as the season opener was more of a physical battle.
“Of course, compared to Qatar, my physical condition I feel a bit better, but it’s true that with confidence I feel much worse,” admitted Marquez.
“This is something that is obvious about a weekend after another injury. Especially when it affects the vision which is something that makes me scared.
“But yeah, Apart from that the championship is important, it’s there, but it’s not the main target now.”
It goes without saying that Marquez can ill-afford to take more big hits, especially ones when landing on his head.
Marquez still viewed as a MotoGP title contender?
The eight-time world champion, who hasn't won a title since 2019 due to the well-documented injuries, is still viewed as a title favourite by many.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro currently leads the championship standings on 45 points, but despite missing two races out of three, Marquez has 13 points which is just one less than Francesco Bagnaia for example.
The Repsol Honda rider also took victory in Austin just a few months ago aboard a Honda that lacked considerable performance compared to this year’s machine.
With nine different riders having already secured a podium so far this season, expect Marquez to at least be in the mix to make that ten, if not the outright win which would also mark four different winners from four races were it to happen.
Marquez being in contention for the title is likely to be defined by one thing, and one thing only, staying fit. Should he do that, then anything is possible.
