Returning Marc Márquez, will be partnered by Pol Espargó at Honda for the 2021 MotoGP season
HRC
Marc Márquez has said that doctors have “good news” on his recovery but that he expects to be slower than before when he returns to the MotoGP grid.
Speaking at the launch of Repsol Honda’s 2021 livery, Márquez was making his first public appearance for the team since his unsuccessful comeback attempt at last season’s second race at Jerez, after breaking his right arm at the season opener on the same circuit.
He will miss testing and he doesn’t yet know whether he will be fit in time for the first race of the season, due to be held in Qatar on March 28.
“I’m optimistic to be on the bike as soon as possible, but I don’t know exactly the day,” he said.
“I don’t know and the doctors don’t know when I will be ready. Every time I go to the doctor, normally we have good news.
“That is really important because last year was quite long and tough. But now just we try to follow my body, with the physio, with the doctor, try to increase a little bit the work at home.
Even when he does return, Márquez is unsure how competitive he’ll be, believing it will take him time to get back “to being as fast as I was”.
“For sure the first time I ride the bike I will not be 100 per cent because one thing is being 100 per cent in the bone side, and then 100 per cent on the muscles,” he said.
“We will see. Of course, I imagine the best comeback, which is starting again and being the same, but it will be difficult to be like this.
“But we will see if it takes one race, two races, half season to be the same Marc [as before].”
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The eight-time World Champion broke his arm in a crash at last year’s season-opening race in Jerez. A plate was fitted to his fractured right humerus and he attempted to return to action the very next weekend.
However, he abandoned qualifying and had to undergo a second operation when the plate broke as Márquez attempted to open a heavy glass door at his house.
A third operation was needed in December, when scans showed that his injury was not healing, and an infection was found at the site.
With Marquez out, sibling team-mate Álex still on a learning curve and test rider stand-in Stefan Bradl building up his race pace on the RC213V, the team’s best results were a pair of runner-up finishes for the younger Márquez at Le Mans and Aragon.
It was the first time since 1982 that Honda has competed in motorcycle racing’s top echelon without registering a win.
This year, Pol Espargaró joins Márquez off the back of a four-year tenure with KTM, becoming his fifth team-mate in three seasons. He replaces Álex, who has been moved to the satellite squad LCR, partnering Takaaki Nakagami.
The Honda MotoGP team revealed their new livery, also officially unveiling the 2021 rider line-up of Marc Márquez and Pol Espargaró.
It was the first time Márquez has been seen in a public appearance for Honda since his unsuccessful comeback attempt at last season’s second race at Jerez, after breaking his right arm at the season opener on the same circuit.
Espargó, signing off the back of a four-year tenure with KTM, becomes Marquez’s fifth team-mate in three seasons. He replaces Marc’s brother Álex, who has been moved to the satellite squad LCR, partnering Takaaki Nakagami.
If Márquez is unable to compete immediately, it is thought Bradl will once again step in to replace him.
