“Title diminished without Marquez? Complete crock!” – Jack Miller

Jack Miller has dismissed the notion the 2020 MotoGP World Championship wouldn’t be considered as satisfying if it was achieved because Marc Marquez injured himself in the opening round of the season.

Marquez looked to be spending the second round of the season from the sidelines after fracturing his arm in an accident during the closing stages of the Spanish MotoGP but has since confirmed he will attempt to race in Jerez this weekend.

However prior to that, debate had raged in the media that any title win by one of his rivals would be as ‘valid’ because Marquez might be forced to miss a round through injury in what is already a compacted season.

Before Marquez made the choice to return to the track, his Team HRC boss Alberto Puig stirred controversy by telling Spanish broadcaster DAZN: 

“Honestly I think if it’s not Marc the one that wins the title, I don’t think that whoever wins will feel 100% proud or at least shouldn't feel 100% satisfied knowing that the number 1 rider didn't participate in all the GPs.”

However, the suggestion has been criticised by Pramac Ducati’s Miller, who says injuring oneself in an event is part of the ‘risk’ and should in no way lessen the performance of another rider taking advantage.

“I have heard two people ask questions about the relative value of this championship and it is a complete crock. We all started on Friday [Wednesday], 100% fit, if one person gets injured it doesn’t matter… We all get injured, they keep saying it is not valid, we all have the same opportunity to get injured and that’s the risk you take.”

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Andalucia MotoGP, one of Marquez’s key rivals was more philosophical about the idea, pointing out he is not the only rider making a bold comeback this weekend.

“He’s here, so there is no problem. For other riders you are not happy to see a rider with an injury or have a scary crash, we all want to be on track and fight together, but he is here and this makes us very happy because it means he is quite good. The other guys are here (Crutchlow, Rins) so it means they have made a fast recovery, it is always great to have them on track.”