Alex Marquez: It's very difficult to control when the arm pump starts

Alex Marquez believes riders who have avoided the need for arm pump surgery ‘are born a little bit different in’ the ‘part of the arm’ where it occurs. This comes after Fabio Quartararo lost what should have been a third concescutive MotoGP victory in Jerez due to arm pump issues.

Robert Jones

07 May 2021

Alex Marquez Spanish MotoGP, 1 May2021
© Gold and Goose Photography

Fabio Quartararo has undergone arm pump surgery following Jerez, while Aleix Espargaro is set for the same surgery after round five of the 2021 MotoGP season at Le Mans in around one week’s time.

It’s something many riders have been affected by and Sunday’s race was maybe the biggest indication of just how it can take its toll.

Espargaro will become the fourth MotoGP rider this season to undergo the surgery after Jack Miller and Iker Lecuona were the other two. Alex Marquez was recently asked about having it and described the situation as ‘difficult to control when it ‘starts’.

Marquez said: "Yes, I had surgery at the end of 2016, I think it was. I had problems at that point in Moto2 with both arms because in that time we were still using the clutch a lot in Moto2, so both arms were a little bit hard and I took the operation.

"How to improve it? This is the main thing of everybody. I think everybody has their own method, and everybody believes in one thing to not have the arm pump. But in the end, when you have it, you have it.

"Many riders who didn't have this problem, I think it's because they are born a little bit different in this part of the arm.

"So I'm not a doctor to say what the difference is exactly, but it's very difficult to control when the arm pump starts."

Fortunes during the Jerez race weekend for LCR Honda were much improved on Takaaki Nakagami’s side of the garage as he finished fourth, but it was another disappointing result for Marquez who got hit on the opening lap and subsequently crashed.

It’s certainly been a puzzling start to 2021 for the team and Marquez who was one of the standout riders towards the end of 2020.

"Well, it's not really easy, honestly. But it's something that we need to accept, and we need to be focused," added Marquez when discussing if it’s been hard to stay calm.

"I believe that working with positive things is always working better. So for that reason I am always trying to see positive things in negative things.

"So it's true that it was not a good start, but it's still so long, 14, 15 races to go, and the situation can change a lot from one weekend to the next weekend, and we need to be there.

"We need to keep focused and then arrive at Le Mans 100% motivated, 100% ready to fight from the beginning and hope that the situation will change a little bit there."