Marc Marquez rides his first motorbike after an 8-month convalescence
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Spanish motorcycling legend Marc Marquez has March 26 circled in red on his calendar. That is the date, less than ten days away, which will see the curtain raise on the 2021 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar. 

All his efforts are currently focused on being fit enough to take part in that opening event of the World Cup, after being absent from the competition since last July when he got injured during the Spanish GP. 

 With that goal in mind, the six-time MotoGP champion has paid a visit to the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. The Catalan pilot has finally been able to ride a bike again in an actual track after receiving the green light from his doctors Samuel Acuña and Ignacio Roger de Oña, who were satisfied with how the bone was consolidating at his last check-up on last March 12. 

Marc was eager to “intensify the strength and mobility recovery program with a view to progressively returning to competitive driving” – as stated by the doctors’ report -. 

Marquez was in fact so hungry to get back into action that he even went riding a mini motorcycle at a circuit near his home on the very same day that he was given the good news by his doctors. That proved to be a very positive first experience, and so Marc rested for a few days and then scheduled a more demanding second test. 

https://twitter.com/marcmarquez93/status/1370762786939211780

The place chosen for the occasion was the Montmelo Circuit in Barcelona, which closed its doors so that the Marc Marquez could train undisturbed. The bike chosen for the occasion was a Honda RC213V-S. Although this is not his MotoGP machine, it is the closest thing to the untamed beast that made him hit the floor in Andalusia. 

Marc Marquez needed to put his injured right arm and the rest of his physique to the test in order to truly appraise its fitness after being so long in the dry dock. Listening to his words following that test day, as well as to other witnesses’ accounts, it seems that the experience and the sensations have been very positive.  

Marc managed to complete a very intense day of testing. The morning session started at 11:20 and lasted over three hours including several short breaks. But the training day didn’t end there. After taking an hour for lunch to regain his strength, he returned to the track from 15:30 to 16:40.

According to someone present at the event, whose words are published in the newspaper Mundo Deportivo: “He is doing three or four GPs today”. When the #93 finally got off his bike, he had accumulated a total of four hours of work. A true ultimate test. 

The aforementioned Catalan media outlet also reported on the following anecdote. It occurred when Marc was leaving the circuit at the end of the day. A fan waiting outside asked him how he had felt to which Marc answered: “Good at first but in the end more strained.” 
Following that reply, the fan casually stated: “It’s a shame that you’re going to miss the Qatar GP”. To which the Spaniard replied impulsively: “Ah, no, no. That not…”. Suddenly realizing that he might have said more than he should, the pilot redirected the conversation: “Oh well… We’ll see, we’ll see”, and he left with a mischievous smile that gave him away. 
The first hint to a possible return to the World Cup in Losail was a lightning visit to Qatar. Just as the rest of the World Championship entourage, he received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, courtesy of the Persian Gulf country.
It seems obvious that, had he not the sights in competing at the Qatari race, he would not have flown to the Middle East to get immunized. But his return date is still unknown.

Images of Marc Marquez: Repsol Honda HRC.

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