Márquez set for 2022 MotoGP testing after private run at Portimao

Marc Márquez looks set to take part in MotoGP testing after completing another private test as part of his recovery efforts from his second eye injury.

The six-time MotoGP champion completed a second private test this month at Portimao and reported no vision issues, a huge boost to his prospects of being fit enough in time to ride the Honda RC213V at Sepang next month.

He logged 65 laps around the Portuguese circuit on a Honda RC213V-S road bike on Sunday as the team continued evaluations on its star rider ahead of the new MotoGP season.

It marked the first time since October when he won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that Márquez rode a bike around a circuit and followed a motorcross bike test he completed earlier in the month.

Márquez was diagnosed with diplopia, a double vision issue he sustained following a training accident in the build up to last season’s Portuguese GP.

“I am feeling very happy, first to be back on a bike at the track and also because we were able to confirm the sensations I had on a motocross bike here with the road bike,” Márquez said of the test.

“It’s a great feeling, a feeling of relief because when I was riding, I didn’t have any discomfort with my vision. Since I haven’t ridden in so long, I did notice some physical areas where I’m missing a little bit but this is just because I have not been able to have my usual pre-season.

“There’s a margin to improve but the positive and the fundamental take away from this test was to reconfirm the feeling we had when we first got on the motocross bike and to enjoy the good feeling of speed. I have completed an intense day of riding with long runs, I am very happy with the results.

“We have two weeks until testing begins in Sepang so I will take the opportunity to intensify my physical preparation and train on the bike.”

Márquez’s fitness has been in doubt following an injury to the nerve in his right eye that resulted in double-vision issues. It was a reccurance from an injury he sustained earlier in his career back in 2011. Back then, the eye injury sustained in Moto2 resulted in four months on the sidelines following surgery.