MotoGP: Marquez to miss further races, but he remains confident about his return
The Repsol Honda MotoGP team has confirmed that Marc Marquez will be sidelined until at least the end of October as the Spaniard continues his recovery from his two operations.
The six-time MotoGP champion fractured his arm at the season-opening Jerez race which required an operation. Marquez was adamant to return to racing for the second round of the season, but he was forced to withdraw from the event at the qualifying session, missing the necessary strength in his arm.
The Cervera-born has undergone another operation since that meant he needed to sit out the Austrian and the Styrian Grands Prix. He was believed to make his return to the next round that takes place at Misano at the beginning of September. However, Repsol Honda has now confirmed that Marquez will not be back in MotoGP until at least the end of October.
The team has acknowledged that the injury is worse than first thought. After consulting with a number of specialists, Marquez and his team have decided to modify the planned recovery process.
Team Manager Alberto Puig said: "There has been a lot of talk about Marc's recovery and the various deadlines, but from the first day after the second operation we have said that the only objective that exists is for him to be one hundred percent. We do not want to rush. Once Marc is in a position to return and compete at the level he knows, then we will think about the next objective."
Speaking for the first time since his operations, Marquez said that he remains confident regarding his recovery, indicating that he had more serious injuries to overcome during his career.
"Especially the last one is always difficult, because it's something that all the humans have, this defect that we forget the past. But honestly speaking, from 2011 to 2012 the vision injury was more difficult because there I was at home but I didn't know if I was able to ride the bike again.
"Now it's a bone. Of course, it's an important injury but it looks like everything is going in the correct way, looks like I will be able to ride again which is my passion."
