Márquez: "The summary is that we have to be happy, very happy, with a smile"

Marc Márquez had the plan of doing 40 laps in his reappearance after the fourth operation on his right arm and he did it in the morning session of the two official MotoGP test days in Misano, and he also did it with a more than acceptable time (1.32. 395) that allowed him, in addition to evaluating his body, to test some parts for Honda.

The Spanish rider did not go out on the track in the afternoon, despite the fact that he wanted to continue with what was planned, but he was optimistic after this first contact with the bike.

“The summary is that we have to be happy, very happy, with a smile. The first time I got off the bike, a big smile was drawn on my face because you feel the adrenaline again, I was happy and excited”, Marc summed up his first impressions after this afternoon at the back of the Honda garage in Misano.

“Logically, the first outings you don’t enjoy much because these bikes run a lot and they don’t have it one hundred percent under control, it’s like the first day you go skiing in winter, on the first descent you go very stiff and little by little you loosen up. No you forget to go on a motorcycle but you go more rigid than normal”, he put the simile.

However, already in his second session of six laps, Márquez lowered the times to 1.32.8 , a time that he even lowered on his 28th lap to 32.3.

“I immediately set myself on acceptable times and we have already started to test things, which was not the main plan. Today we had planned to ride and adapt to the bike. But when I saw that I was already on fast times we were able to test some things. In the last starts is when he was better, but the plan for today was to do 40 laps (he did 39) and stop. Now it’s time to work with the physios, ice, relax the muscles well and go back to doing laps tomorrow”, in relation to the second test day this Wednesday.

The most important thing after 100 days without riding a MotoGP and after a fourth operation, was to know the state of the injured arm.

“The arm has felt natural, a natural position when I don’t have to use a lot of force. What does this mean, when I leave the box, when I do some slower laps it’s natural, but when I go fast and I have to do full force, I still have to the muscles gain strength for the stabilization of the arm and the shoulder, to be able to work better. In the left corners the position has been quite natural and in the right ones I lacked strength in those that had to be pressed a lot and in the corner area fast it left me a few tenths. But I have always felt sure on the bike that this is very important”.

“The arm has returned to the good position, but what needs to be put in place are the arm and elbow stabilizers, and that will take longer. I have only done two weeks in the gym and two days on the bike, I have not given time gain strength, but these tests will help me understand where I am and which muscles need to work more”.

It is still early to make decisions, but Marc’s point of optimism after his first contact with the bike suggests that he could reappear in two weeks at the Aragon Grand Prix, even though he could not have finished right now Sunday’s race at Misano.

“One thing is to do a test, that you do four laps, stop, exit, enter and another very different thing is to do a race. Today I would not have finished a 27-lap race, it would irritate my shoulder capsule, I have been dealing with it for two years. this arm and I know my body, when you don’t have the right shoulder position you start using weird postures. We have to insist on that. It’s one thing to do a few laps and another to do a race every lap at the limit, with all the drivers going very fast”.

“The planning today was this, it went as we expected, now the plan is to do more laps tomorrow, we will see how I get up and if I can do it, and then over the weekend understand how the arm and the body react and then decide if it makes sense go to Aragon or is it better to wait and, I don’t know, skip the Asian tour and go to the next one”, which would be the Valencia Grand Prix in November, although no one doubts, seeing his smile this afternoon, that, if he has a minimum possibility, we will see you at Motorland.

Despite the fact that Marc made it clear on Saturday that this test was going to be first to test himself and then for Honda, he was able to start testing with the new parts, although he did not specify which ones.

“Today there were two plans, A which was to ride slowly and gradually lower the times to get into a rhythm, and B was to go out, feel more or less well, see myself in time and start trying things, and it has touched the B, in the second round I have already dropped to 1.32 and being on time I have started to advance things, they are comments that, honestly, have to be taken with tweezers because I do not have the feeling that it touches the bike after so much time, but the good thing is that the comments have been identical to those of Stefan Bradl, that we have been testing the same parts, and that is the important thing”, settled the boy from Cervera.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team