Marquez to make shock return at Jerez
Following his horrific high-side crash and a subsequent operation, Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez will return to action at Jerez for the second round of the heavily-revised MotoGP season.
The delayed 2020 MotoGP season did not kick off in the best fashion for Marc Marquez despite his dominant race pace. Starting from the third place, Marquez was leading the race ahead of Maveric Vinales when he made a mistake in Turn 4, going off the track. While he could save his bike while going through the gravel trap, he slipped back to the 16th position.
The 27-year-old rider was adamant to fight his way back up to the front. After setting the fastest lap times while overtaking his rivals, Marquez found himself back in P3 and challenged Vinales for the second spot on the rostrum. However, the six-time MotoGP champion went wide at Turn 4 again, but he could not save the wild moment this time, high-siding immediately, and he was subsequently launched through the air at tremendous speed.
The six-time MotoGP champion was diagnosed with a broken right humerus that needed to be operated. The Spaniard travelled to Barcelona on Monday and the doctors completed a successful operation on his arm on Tuesday. Marquez was expected to concentrate on his rehabilitation and make a return for the third round of the season that will take place at Brno on August 9.
However, Marquez made a shocking announcement via social media yesterday, confirming that he will be back at Jerez riding his Honda RC213V. „Medical review passed in Jerez! On Saturday we will test ourselves and assess the feeling on the bike!”
Marquez will skip Friday sessions to give some more time to his arm before he joins the track action on Saturday in the third practice. As MotoGP stayed at Jerez for the second round of the season where it raced just a week ago, the Spaniard will not be at a disadvantage due to the lack of running on Friday.
Revealing details on the plan for Saturday’s FP3, the Spaniard’s crew chief Santi Hernandez said that the team want to assess Marquez’s conditions on Saturday morning and fulfil technical changes if needed to help him ride safely following his operation.
„The first thing is to see if he can ride in a good and safe way, the first exit will be the most important. From here we can understand what the situation is and what we can do from a technical side to help Marc and give him what he needs. The luck here is that we have run last week.
„This gives us more peace of mind to be able to start tomorrow and let Marc focus on himself and seeing how he is. Honestly, Marc in incredible and continues to surprise us.”
