– The remarkable photo that Marc Marquez posted last week of his battered right arm on Instagram has sparked over a thousand comments, as well as an interview with Dr. Samuel Antuna, his trusted doctor.
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After the operation on his right shoulder on May 10, Marquez returned to racing in Italy less than three weeks later and celebrated four wins over six race weekends.
At Balaton Park, on the Sachsenring, and in Aragon, he even achieved double victories in the sprint and the Grand Prix. These results led some to speculate about his actual physical condition.
In recent weeks, Marquez has repeatedly emphasized that he is tired of talking about his arm. His response was to post a photo of himself shirtless during training.
The photo clearly shows the atrophy in the area of the right shoulder. He sustained this injury on October 5, 2025, when he was brought down by Marco Bezzecchi in the first lap of the Indonesian Grand Prix.
This injury required two surgeries: on October 14 and May 10. It was the seventh operation on this arm since 2020. It has completely changed the shape and appearance of the right shoulder.
Moreover, this injury has left lasting effects that, according to the treating doctors, have resulted in “the arm functioning at only about 50 percent of its capacity.”
Recovery from Jerez 2020 was practically complete
In a detailed interview with El Periodico de Catalunya, Dr. Antuna, Marquez’s trusted doctor, explains that the accident with Bezzecchi in Indonesia wiped out all the recovery work on this arm.
“The crash in Indonesia meant starting over,” admits Dr. Antuna. “He suffered an acromioclavicular joint dislocation, combined with a fracture at the base of the coracoid process.”
“Such a dislocation must heal well in someone who rides at 350 km/h to avoid lasting damage, because the shoulder muscles attach to the collarbone.”
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“If the collarbone does not remain stable, it can cause problems. The dislocation healed, although it took four months for everything to be okay.” The injury proved to be more complicated than it initially appeared.
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“In that very crash, there was a secondary displacement of a bone fragment that had been used several years earlier to stabilize the same shoulder.”
“Marc continued racing, but with difficulties controlling the arm, which caused him pain and led to crashes. At that point, we discovered the problem,” explains Dr. Antuna.
Marquez will never again reach the level of 2025
This led to Marquez having to go back to the operating table on May 10. The recovery of the right arm had been practically complete before this accident. This allowed him to dominate the 2025 season.
“Before the accident in Indonesia, the entire arm injury was very well compensated. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good,” confirms Dr. Antuna, “and after this incident, it went out of balance.”
This injury in Indonesia will hardly allow Marquez to ever again reach the performance level he had before this accident with Bezzecchi.
“We are in a process that is slow and now somewhat better than it once was, but he certainly does not have a normal arm and will never have one again,” says Dr. Antuna.
“Marc finds it difficult to play padel, and that says it all. If Marc were Carlos Alcaraz, he would have had to retire from professional tennis. He could play tennis, but only as an amateur.”
Another recent mantra of Marquez is to “understand” what his new 100-percent mark looks like physically after seven operations on his right arm. In practice, this varies depending on the track layout.
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“Assigning a real value to Marc’s arm is impossible because he has a great ability to compensate for his deficits. What I can say, however, is that this arm is severely limited in strength, especially in the biceps. I would say this arm is at about 50 percent of its capacity,” Dr. Antuna concludes.
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