Marc Marquez out of the Indonesian MotoGP after horrific high-side

Marc Marquez has been declared unfit to participate in the 2022 Indonesian MotoGP after suffering concussion - but remarkably nothing more - in a violent high-side during morning warm-up at the Mandalika Circuit.

The Spaniard has been struggling to find the balance between speed and stability all weekend after suffering a fall on Friday and two more during Saturday’s qualifying session to leave him 14th on the grid.

However, his fourth off of the weekend would prove to be the worst yet, Marquez losing the rear of the Repsol Honda RC213V at the fast Turn 7 right-hand sweep, only for it to snap back as the tyre gripped again and flicking the eight-time World Champion airborne before coming down heavily.

Taken to local hospital for checks, though Marquez has returned to the circuit with a relatively clean bill of health with regards to his physical condition, a diagnosis of concussion ultimately rules him out of the season’s second round.

“Marc is fine. He had a high energy crash in the Warm Up, which resulted in a head injury,” said MotoGP doctor Angel Chatre. “Initially, we examined him here and then referred him to the hospital in Lombok. He underwent several radiological tests, which were negative. 

“In agreement with the rider and the team, and due to the fact that this type of pathology requires a period of observation between 12 and 24 hours, the rider, the team and the MotoGP medical staff have decided to declare him as unfit.”

Marquez’s shocking crash brings an unhappy weekend to a painful conclusion for the 59-time race winner, who has struggled to get dialled into both the circuit and the new evolution of the Honda RC213V in Indonesia.

Perhaps of greatest concern for him though will be the traits of the accident itself, which mirrored the persistent rear-end grip issues of 2021 that led to Honda greatly overhauling the RC213V’s design philosophy over the winter with an express aim to prevent that from happening.

Even so, Marquez will consider himself fortunate to have seemingly escaped a flare up of the myriad injuries he has contended with over the last couple of years, namely his operated on shoulders and arm, plus his diplopia, which can be brought on by trauma.