Marc Márquez: "There was a risk to my career having raced in Jerez"

The Spanish MotoGP rider Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) explained on Thursday the reasons why he is not going to race the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend and warned that the doctors made it clear to him that it was "crazy" and that "there was risk” for his sports career of having returned without fully curing the injury to his right finger, “one of the most important” when it comes to driving.

🎙️ @izaskunruiz: "At another time, would you have shortened the deadlines?"

🗣 @marcmarquez93: "If three different teams of doctors tell you that you are going to destroy it, it doesn't matter if you are 20 or 30 years old"#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/eL37xKjOA4

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 27, 2023

The eight-time world champion will not be at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto and will miss his third consecutive race in the Motorcycle World Championship due to the injury that occurred in his right hand after his fall at the premiere in Portimao (Portugal).

The Catalan underwent a CT scan last Tuesday to see the evolution of his operated finger and after the test, three different medical teams recommended him not to run.

"There was a risk to my career, not just for three or four months," Márquez warned at a press conference announced this Thursday in Jerez.

“The decision not to race was relatively easy.

I was hopeful and thought that I would recover in four weeks, but after the CT scan on Tuesday, unanimously, the three medical teams told me that it was crazy, ”he stressed.

For the Spaniard, "it was not only the risk of falling" that discouraged his participation.

“This is one of the most important fingers for a rider, especially when it comes to braking, and just with the pressure on the handlebars there was a lot of risk that the surgery would happen,” he pointed out.

“It is one of the points on which we rely the most and if something happened, there was a way to recover it, but there would be consequences.

The decision was easy because my arm has already happened to me and if they also remain where you rest the handlebars...", confessed the Repsol Honda rider.

“I shoot with willpower”

Márquez indicated that his "objective" was to run in Jerez, but that the doctors marked his return between Le Mans (France) and Mugello (Italy).

“He will decide the TAC of the week before.

Missing races hurts, missing the Spanish GP even more and especially the only test there is until Misano ”, he lamented, clarifying that “it is not one hundred percent sure ”that he will be at the French Grand Prix on May 14.

And it is that after the race on Sunday, the pilots of the 'queen' category will have a day of tests, although the one from Cervera recalls that for Honda there will be “two very good pilots” like his partner Joan Mir and Alex Rins, from the LCR.

“Since 2020 I have been chaining injury after injury, due to different circumstances, and for me it is better to maintain willpower than motivation.

When you get injured, motivation goes down and it's willpower that pulls.

My passion for this sport requires it of me, ”he stressed about his last years with physical problems.

Márquez also referred to the controversy with his penalty after his incident at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

“I received a penalty for a mistake and with which I completely agree, but I did not understand the change after two days.

The team decided to appeal because when you are injured you don't think about these things, ”he explained.

“You have to be clear, he received the penalty in writing and he had to comply with it in Argentina and then they changed it.

The worst penalty is being injured and also the best way to learn, no one wants to create a dangerous situation or injure themselves”, he stated.

Finally, the eight-time world champion was clear about the touches on the track after the criticism received for his incident in Portugal.

“The touches have happened, they happen and they will happen.

Hopefully they happen as little as possible, but all the greats in history have had them, and you have more or less experience, you are on the limit.

Nobody wants to crash and even less with another pilot, but you learn from everything.

This is motorcycling and whoever does not want to see it like this has not seen many races, ”he settled.

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