– Marc Marquez actually did not want to talk about his right arm anymore, but after the race weekend in Aragon, he himself posted a photo of his battered right shoulder on Instagram, which sparked even more discussions about it. So why did he publish this photo?
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“I already said in Aragon that I was a bit tired of the same question. I have learned in my career that when there are question marks, when there are rumors and speculations, the most important or easiest thing is to be honest.”
“That is the best way to remove the question mark,” Marquez explains at the start of the Misano race weekend about his motives. “So I made my real situation public.”
“My doctor talked about what they did and how much the injury from Indonesia affected me. From now on, I have nothing more to say about it.”
Nevertheless, there was a decisive moment in recent weeks when he realized he had to do something to finally end the constant questions about his arm and put them to rest.
According to Marquez, that was the Thursday before the race weekend in Aragon. Because in Silverstone he did not talk about his arm and did not use it as an excuse for the weak performance in Great Britain.
The Instagram photo was Marquez’s own idea
But Ducati published in the Inside video report on Silverstone how Marquez told the engineers in the box the truth about his arm and why he could not show a better performance.
“I was not angry because this is content that fans really like,” says the Spaniard about the release of this internal Ducati video. “But then the question about my arm came up again in Aragon.”
“I already said I was tired of answering, but then after the Aragon Grand Prix I told my team that I wanted to find a solution, and then we found the right way,” he refers to the photo.
“So, I found it because it was my idea. I mean, they always give me feedback, but it is something very personal. And that is the best way to remove the question mark.”
“My physical condition is as it is. I still enjoy it, I still feel competitive. And with what I have, I try to give my maximum every weekend.”
Why he is now going public like this
But still, it is a paradigm shift, because earlier Marquez tried to hide a lot from the public, at least as well as he could. This time he went on the offensive himself with the Instagram photo.
There is another explanation for this: “This question about my arm somehow takes energy from me. If I want to fight for this championship, I have to fully concentrate my energy on the track and be convinced.”
That is why the photo was a strategic decision, because “this way I am more relaxed. If you ask me about my arm, I will say that I already answered after Aragon, and I will add nothing.”
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Photo series: The suffering path of MotoGP star Marc Marquez
Despite the physical limitations, Marquez was able to win both the sprint and the Grand Prix in Aragon. The track in Aragon runs counterclockwise and has more left than right turns.
On tracks with more right than left turns, he has greater difficulty. Nevertheless, Ducati is not working on a special setup to support him a bit on such tracks while riding.
“No, it is just a matter of adaptation, I have to adapt to the motorcycle. If you want a setup to ride smoother and in an easier way, then the lap time will never come.”
“I know how to ride fast. I know what I have to do, and then I have to adapt to every condition, to every track to try to be fast. If the lap time works, it does not matter how you do it.”
Marquez emphasizes: “No one forces me to ride”
Despite the physical limitation, Marquez is currently not thinking about ending his career. His new two-year contract with Ducati runs until the end of 2028. Aragon showed what he can still achieve.
“It is my decision to continue, no one is holding a knife to my throat that I have to ride. At the moment I am still more or less competitive.”
“I enjoy it, so I will try to enjoy my passion as long as I am competitive,” emphasizes the 33-year-old. However, he also admits that it is much more difficult than ten years ago.
“I have to put in much more effort to survive in MotoGP because the young riders are very fast. It used to be more like a natural instinct,” he compares his successful Honda years with today.
The goal is to fight for his tenth world championship in the last third of the season. Before the home race of Ducati and Aprilia in Misano, he has put himself back in a good position.
With the double win in Aragon, Marquez is only 19 championship points behind Jorge Martin. “The key for these last races is to be the fastest out there,” the defending champion names his clear objective.
“If you are the fastest, you have more chances. To be the fastest, you have to take a certain risk. It is true that at the moment it looks like some riders are working more on consistency.”
“Others try to be a bit faster, but in the end, if you are the fastest out there, everything is easier. We will try to work on riding well on all tracks.”
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