Marc Márquez will be able to participate in the 2022 preseason from the first practice sessions held on February 5 and 6 at the Sepang Circuit , as confirmed by the Repsol Honda team in an official statement issued this Wednesday morning.
The Spanish rider was injured on October 30 while practicing motocross, suffering an episode of diplopia (double vision), an injury that already kept him out for three months in 2011, which prevented him from fighting for the Moto2 title that year.
In the statement, Honda explains that “last Monday, January 24, Márquez underwent another medical check-up that confirmed that the treatment had been a complete success and that the eight-time World Champion is in ideal condition to ride a motorcycle. MotoGP”.
After missing the last two races of the 2021 season (Portimao and Valencia), in addition to last November’s test in Jerez, doubts about Marc’s eye injury dissipated in mid-January, when the wheel rider himself press assured that he had perfect vision and that he did not need to go through the operating room.
Since then, Marc has intensified his preparation, with a test in Portimao riding a Honda RC213V-S and another session at Motorland with a CBR 600, as well as enduro and karting sessions, seeking definitive confirmation of his recovery and an ideal physical set-up to be able to endure two days of testing in Sepang.
Having passed the tests, Honda confirmed this Wednesday that Márquez will travel to Malaysia for the preseason, in which he will be able to participate together with Pol Espargaró , Alex Márquez and Takaaki Nakagami , on February 5 and 6, in the first tests of 2022, before the official presentation of the Repsol team on Tuesday the 8th, and a second official test at the new Mandalika Circuit , in Indonesia, from February 11 to 13.
One of the reasons put forward to understand Honda’s bad season last year was the absence of Márquez in the pre-season tests, which was lost due to the serious injury that dragged on his right arm and shoulder, an ailment from which In principle, the rider should be much more recovered, although until he gets back on the handlebars of the MotoGP RC213V, he will not be able to check the real extent of his recovery.