The Honda rider, the unquestionable reference on the MotoGP grid since he made his debut in the heavy bike category in 2013 –six titles out of a possible seven–, is going through the most complicated stage of his career as a professional, since that Sunday two years ago years, in Jerez, in which he broke his arm.
After three operations that did not finish solving the problem, and nine months of forced sick leave, another injury, in this case in the eyes –an accident while practicing motocross caused him to reproduce the diplopia (double vision) that he already suffered in 2011– It led him again to miss the last two races of last year.
As if that were not enough, the diplopia reappeared as a result of the hair-raising fall that he starred in during the warm up in Mandalika, the second stop on the 2022 calendar. That led him, once again, to not be able to enroll in the test that weekend. week, in Indonesia, and 15 days later, in Argentina.
Since then, Marc Márquez has changed his way of approaching racing. “I do what I feel like, but I don’t go any further,” the runner from Cervera (Lleida) has been repeating lately.
Despite having missed two events out of the seven that have been held to date, Márquez, tenth in the general world championship points table, is the best placed among the Honda riders, with 14 points more than Pol Espargaró, his partner in the official HRC team.
Accustomed to constantly fighting to win races and titles, the Catalan has still not managed to get on the podium so far this season, both due to the limitation caused by his right arm and shoulder, and due to the weak points of the new RC213V projected by the brand of the golden wing for this 2022.
All this combination of factors means that the #93 faces the grands prix with a slightly different mentality than usual, and that is reflected in the routine that follows on Sundays, before the traffic lights go out.
“I have changed the concentration ritual, because the 25 minutes we are on the grid before leaving are very long,” said Márquez, a few days ago, before the DAZN microphones.
One of the aspects that has changed in that nearly half hour before the race is that he puts on his headphones to listen to some music. “Some times, reggaeton, others, The Offspring, but I don’t have any special list for that moment. It’s all quite varied,” adds the Honda man.
“Now I take the weekends as fun, not as an obligation to have to go out and win. What did I finish the fourth? Well, I finished the fourth. Fifth? Fifth. That day will come; hopefully”, the Spaniard riveted .
