Marc Marquez has been the star of a press conference along with the other three pilots competing for HRC in the MotoGP World Championship 2022. In his first public appearance in three months, Marquez has spoken about the ordeal of his eye injury and confirmed his complete recovery, for which a surgical intervention has not been necessary. The Spaniard has also revealed the next steps on his road to recovery ahead of making a decision on the Sepang tests:

“First of all, I just want to say that I am very happy. This last month I have felt much better, the previous three months had been difficult”. 

The confirmation of his recovery from the diplopia (double vision) in his eyes, has come just 24 hours after the pilot published some videos-along with a statement- on social networks.

In such images, he appears practising motocross with the same machine he was riding when a heavy fall damaged his eye nerve last November. Marquez has clarified that he has only been able to confirm his full recovery after undergoing an exam with his ophthalmologist, Mr. Sanchez Dalmau, the same one who treated him for the same pathology eleven years ago after he suffered another serious accident:

 “From the start, I have followed the advice of the doctor who cured me in 2011. It was the same nerve that was injured then. This week I had improved a lot, and he gave me a check-up that confirmed my sensations. He said I could ride a motorcycle, and I chose a motocross bike because it’s the kind of bike I was injured on and because it is very demanding”.   

Despite the upturn in his recovery of the last few days and the fact that he is now over his injury, Marc Marquez has declared that he wants to see how his body responds with a more demanding machine. After this test, Marc Marquez will decide whether or not he takes part in the winter Sepang tests of February 5 and 6:

“Repsol Honda is organizing the next step, which will be on a big circuit with a CBR or with the RC213V-S. If I’m riding a bike, it is because I have perfect vision and I don’t need surgery. But I want to see how I feel on a big circuit riding at speed alone, before deciding on Sepang”. – Explained Marc Marquez-. 

Three very mentally challenging months

Looking back, the six-time MotoGP champion has acknowledged that his second eye injury has marked one of the worst moments in his career, which has once again been in jeopardy. 

The Enduro accident where he damaged his eye nerve occurred just a year and a half after the very serious injury to his right arm in Jerez of June 2020 and which also shattered his professional future. And all of that without mentioning his battered right shoulder. 

“At a mental level, it has been one of the most difficult times in my career. I would finish recovering from something and get injured again. I do not wish this on anyone. Since I got injured, my goal has always been to be in the first test and in the first race but we have to go step by step because one’s sight is a very serious matter”. – Marquez declared-. 

In relation to his emotional difficulties, he has spoken of the challenge posed by the uncertain outcome of his diplopia: 

“The recovery from such an injury, a sight injury, is tricky. You either have a clear vision, or you don’t. I’m the first one that when I get injured, I want to race the next day. But nobody, not even the doctors themselves, knew if I was going to be out two, three or six months. Everything was on the table. A possible surgery or even never riding again. But when I started to feel better, I did some road cycling and then I did mountain biking” – Concluded Marc Marquez-.

Images of Marc Marquez: Repsol Honda Team.