The idea had been around the Honda box for a long time and, after the green light from the doctors, there was no time for doubts. Marc Márquez will go through the operating room again, fourth operation on his right arm, but with full confidence in “trying to definitively solve this problem”. The eight-time champion says goodbye to MotoGP again temporarily, although without a return date that, with his optimism, Marc himself estimates in three months. The doctors estimate something more due to the seriousness of his rotation in the humerus, but the mentality of the man from Lleida has already shown on several occasions that miracles can be done.
And this time he needs it more than ever. Not only for a speedy recovery, but to find satisfaction again on a motorcycle in which the suffering was far greater than the fun. And, thus, the one from Honda was not willing to continue. Armed with courage and much hope, Márquez is already heading to the United States, where he will be operated on Thursday. And, at that moment, seeing how the operation is going, they can start talking about dates. “The priority now is Marc’s operation, that it be carried out correctly,” recalled Puig in his statements after the weekend at Mugello, where he admits that the team will go ahead, with a “test in Barcelona after the next race “. Although always very aware of his champion: “When the doctor finishes the operation, then we will know more or less what the times and When can we start looking forward to Marc’s return?
But recovery will take time and will be taken in stride. While, Honda will start a new period of a lot of work, but that it will also be “very complicated”. The mark of golden wing He already has three “very difficult” seasons, marked by the comings and goings of a Marc weighed down by his injuries (arm and diplopia), in addition to a critical motorcycle. Now, with Stefan Bradl as substitute for the player from Lleida, the goal is to “continue to improve the RC213V”. “It’s the only chance we have. A MotoGP bike is a complicated machine and you can’t put just any rider, you need someone with experience,” Puig, Repsol Honda team manager, commented on the arrival of the German. “Life is not what you want, it is what it is” added the Spaniard, with the mentality of “moving forward” in this period without Marc.
There are no excuses
With Mugello already at last and the Catalan GP without rest, Honda gets to work. A new stage of development and evolution begins that, of course, “may be affected” by the absence of Márquez. But Honda believes in the potential of the rest of its drivers on the grid: “Our goal and our duty is to try to get the best possible results with the information we can get. We have our test driver and three other drivers who can give us a lot of information. But of course when you have a rider like Marc standing still, not riding the bike for so long, it clearly influences the approach of the engineers. This is not an excuse; We will try to do the best we can.”