2023-05-11 20:17:07
This same week Marc Márquez received the green light to get back on his Honda, once he had overcome the fracture at the base of the thumb of his right hand that kept him away from racing for a month and a half. But before being officially registered in the French Grand Prix, it was mandatory to pass a review at the circuit’s medical center and be declared ‘fit’. A regulatory process that he passed without problems this Thursday before appearing before the media, who expected his return like rain in May.
The Spanish rider is today the greatest asset in the MotoGP World Championship and having him back on the track fighting to win again is a claim for the fans. Although Márquez himself was in charge of lowering the soufflé before starting, on a weekend where the number one priority is to recover the sensations after missing the last three races «I can’t face the first race after an injury, and after after going a month and a half without riding a motorcycle thinking about coming back and being in front ». And when asked if he had used that conservative discourse before in the first round of the year in Portimao (he took pole position and was on the podium in the sprint on Saturday), the man from Cervera qualified. “It is true that then we were not there to achieve what we achieved, but at least I had a physique and with that I could solve some of our shortcomings.”
Also this week, Márquez learned that the MotoGP Court of Appeal had agreed with him and that his sanction for causing the accident in Portimao had been fulfilled in his absence. Many of the questions at the press conference were in this sense, and the Spanish driver did not evade any, making his position clear. «I agreed with the sanction, because I made a mistake, but I signed that it was fulfilled in the Argentine GP. Then two days later someone changed it, it is not clear why. If it was a mistake by the stewards, I don’t have to accept that this mistake affects me in my races.”
Just as blunt as he was when asked if he had the feeling that his rivals had not been very amused by this whole matter. “Nobody can talk too much, because if you throw shit on another driver in the next race it can happen to you.” A dart, perhaps, towards Jorge Martín. The man from Madrid was the most critical of Márquez in Portimao after he ran over him in the race; and weeks later, Martín himself threw his brother Álex in the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Historic
Marc Márquez capitalized on all the spotlights in the preview of a historic weekend as the thousandth grand prix is celebrated since the championship began in 1949. Different events and acts have been scheduled on the circuit, at a party which could be lackluster because the forecast at Le Mans is that it will be a wet weekend. Some circumstances that could partly help the eight-time world champion, taking into account that in the wet the physical demand is less and the mechanical disadvantages are diluted in front of the driver’s hand.
The Honda is still a step behind the Aprilia and KTM; and two with respect to the Ducati, the reference motorcycle today. 80 points separate Márquez from the leader Pecco Bagnaia, a considerable difference but one that is not insurmountable. This was demonstrated, without going any further, by the current MotoGP champion last year when he overcame Fabio Quartararo by 91 points. The Italian starts as a favorite after winning in Jerez, while the Frenchman, who is also suffering more than necessary with the Yamaha, is racing at home and the field factor could give him that extra bonus he needs to turn around a season that started off lopsidedly in in terms of results also for him.
Until the MotoGP start rolling this Friday on the legendary French track, it will be difficult to make a forecast, and even more so taking into account the weather factor, what is certain is that the winner will enroll his name in a list of winners that on Sunday becomes millennial.
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