Márquez: ‘I have to suffer to enjoy the race!’

Only a fool or a dreamer would suggest that Marc Márquez isn’t favourite to win this year’s MotoGP world championship, to add to the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 trophies he already has crammed inside his silverware cupboard.

And yet… the 26-year-old has just 27 days left to get his right shoulder ready to go racing on March 8, following surgery last November.

Of course, he was in a similar position in early 2019, when he was recovering from surgery to his left shoulder. And just like he did at last year’s Sepang tests he took things easy at last weekend’s Sepang tests, being sure not to aggravate the shoulder and slow its recovery.

“From my first run on Friday I already felt worse than I expected on the bike,” he said at Sepang.

“One of the important muscles in the shoulder for riding bikes isn’t good, so it’s difficult to touch the elbow on the track and to use the elbow in the corners. When I came back to the box after my first run I felt we needed to slow down, be patient and work step by step. The good thing is that it’s a different exercise for the shoulder!”

The difference compared to last year is that this time he crashed twice at Sepang, attributing both accidents to his physical condition.

One of the major weapons in Márquez’s race-winning armoury is his unique ability to ride beyond the limit of the front tyre, then when the tyre does slide – at which point most riders find themselves on the ground – he digs an elbow into the asphalt, like an outrigger wheel, which also reduces load on the tyre to help it regain grip.

He couldn’t do that when he crashed on Saturday or on Sunday.

“I have suffered these three days at Sepang, but it’s like this and I need to suffer now if I want to be ready for the Qatar race”

The Saturday tumble happened at the very end of the day, when he was riding through the fast Turn Three, right in front of brother Alex. “I lost the front and maybe because I didn’t have the power [in my shoulder] I couldn’t save it,” he said.

Exactly the same thing happened when he slid off at the end of the last day, at the slower Turn 15 hairpin. “Sunday was the first day I put more effort into the bike and by midday I was already destroyed,” he added. “I decided to go out in the afternoon anyway. It was a small crash, again about my physical condition: I was in the corner, already turning, but I needed more power to save it.”

It’s no surprise that Márquez is struggling. We’ve all experienced that embarrassing moment when we’ve lost control of a bike at a standstill and although we’ve done everything humanly possible to avoid dropping the bike, once gravity takes over, we are fighting a losing battle.