Marc Marquez admits MotoGP return was 'hasty' but points blame towards doctors

Marc Marquez has conceded his rather foolhardy efforts to prove he is superhuman by returning to MotoGP action just days after major surgery was ‘hasty’, but somewhat controversially points the finger of blame at doctors for not dissuading him.

Marquez’s attempts to notch up a seventh MotoGP World Championship title in eight years came to an abrupt end just 21 laps into the first race of the delayed season in Jerez when he crashed out while attempting to fight back from an earlier off-track moment.

Falling at high-speed, a glancing blow from the tyre of his Repsol Honda as came down fractured his arm and necessitated an operation in the days following the Spanish event. Nonetheless, Marquez was right back on the bike just days later only to withdraw mid-way through the race weekend because of the pain.

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It was the last we’d see of the Spaniard in 2020, Marquez going on to require a second surgery to fix a plate inserted into the arm that had become damaged when he ‘opened a window’.

With the benefit of hindsight Marquez admits coming back so soon wasn’t wise, but goes on to say the responsibility should sit with the doctors for allowing him to do so.

“This year has taught me many things. The first, that the attempt to return after the injury was hasty. My plate broke at home, opening a sliding door that I have to go out to the garden. But the plate did not break there, it did so as a result of all the stress that was created in Jerez.

“Trying to return to Jerez was a mistake. I’ve learned that the riders have a virtue and a defect, which is that the riders do not see fear, so the doctors have to make us see it.

“After the first operation, the first question of every rider is: when can I get back on the bike? And it is the doctor who has to know how to stop you, he is the one who has to be realistic. I went to Jerez with the peace of mind that the plate held because they told me so.

“I am brave but not unconscious. If they tell me that the plate can break, I would not have gotten on a 300km/h motorcycle.”

Marquez has been recovering in a Madrid hospital after undergoing a third surgery on the arm after contracting an infection which was slowing down the recovery process.

Indeed, though it has been five months since that second surgery, there has been growing speculation the injury could leave a legacy on his future involvement in the sport to the extent he may not be ready to take to the grid when the 2021 MotoGP season rolls around.