Marc Marquez’s injury hell: “A thousand doubts - when ghosts appear…”

Marc’s career was at stake when he went under the knife for the fourth time earlier this year to mend his troublesome right arm, an injury that is in addition to his double-vision problem.

His comeback has been impressive so far and he has spoken boldly about adding to his six MotoGP championships, but according to his younger brother, the true meaning of Marc’s revival is much simpler.

“He’s a born winner,” Alex said to DAZN. “He has done nothing but raced and won. I don’t think he’s looking for a title, but he wants to find himself and go back to doing what he did before on the bike.

“We saw him overturn situations that, at the time, were thought to be at the limit, until [the injuries] occurred. 

“This was more than a limit, and he had to cross it four times. It was the situation in which he grew the most, the one in which he learned the most, and which will make him even stronger in the future.

“When everything goes well, things aren’t taken into consideration. The exceptional thing becomes normal and, when something like this happens to you, with four surgeries, everyday life and the simplest things acquire more value. This means that, on the circuit and outside, life has more gusto.”

Marquez must overcome the limitations of his Repsol Honda bike next season, as well as his physical issues, if he is to challenge for a seventh MotoGP championship (the same tally that Valentino Rossi accrued).

But he must do it without his brother in the same team - Alex will be in the 2023 MotoGP rider line-up for Gresini Ducati, a notable move because it potentially opens up a future exit for Marc, too.

But, earlier this year when Marc needed surgery again, he had agonising conversations with his brother about quitting altogether.

“He knows that when I’m serious, I really am,” Alex said. 

“There were a thousand doubts, and I said to him: ‘Okay, what if you don’t? Can you compete? No. Well, there’s your answer. Try, then you’ll know if you can compete again, but you can’t do it like this’.

“He had never talked to me openly about retirement. That day, he talked about it. 

“He never thought about what he would do after motorcycling, but he wanted to stay tied to this world, helping young people as he has already done. But I told him: ‘Don’t be silly. In four days, you’ll be back on the bike’.

“Super Marc doesn’t exist. He’s also human. His big rescues, the fact that he falls and, two minutes later, he’s in the garage - that’s not normal. There comes a time when you push hard, and you don’t have luck on your side. That is where you suffer. But he’s an exceptional rider who does wonderful things.”

Marc’s chief technician, Santi Hernández, added: “His fourth operation was his last chance, and it was all or nothing. 

“He didn’t know if it would be the last one, if he could fix his injury, or if they were going to tell him: ‘There’s nothing that can be done,  you have to retire’.  

“It was the decisive moment of his career, of a bad period. When ghosts appear, you think of many things.”

His mechanic Javier Ortiz said: “It was three years of ‘no, yes, no’. Now, things seem to be a little better. Now, it seems that things are a bit like they were before.

“It was also difficult for us because we saw him suffer. He wanted to be there but couldn’t because of his arm. He could’ve isolated himself during his recovery, but he never stopped being who he was.”