Marc Marquez: From struggling on sofa to setting 'sights' on Sepang

An upturn in the recovery of Marc Marquez's vision means one main obstacle now stands between the eight-time world champion and a return to MotoGP action at next month's opening pre-season test Sepang.

The Repsol Honda star suffered a nightmare repeat of his 2011 double-vision problems when he damaged a nerve during an enduro training accident in October, bringing his belated season to an early end.

Initially unable to stand up from the sofa without experiencing vision problems, Marquez's first concern was whether he could even live a normal life, let alone ride a MotoGP prototype at 220mph.

Turning to the same doctor that oversaw his treatment in 2011, when Marquez took 4.5-months to return to a grand prix bike, a period of total rest was prescribed.

Marquez's patience was finally rewarded when he began to feel a noticeable improvement in the last month.

That was confirmed by the latest medical check, which cleared the #93 to return to a motorcycle for the first time since winning October's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Opting for motocross to test his vision in a range of riding scenarios, including jumps, Marquez was pleased with the outcome - but won't be packing his bags for Sepang just yet.

The big question now is how his vision will hold up under the high-speed stress of a road racing bike.

As such, the next major step is for the Spaniard, who turns 29 next month, to try a 1000cc Superbike or RC213V-S road bike at a grand prix circuit.

If all goes well, Marquez will be on his way to Sepang to ride the all-new Honda on February 5–6 followed by the final test at Indonesia's Mandalika circuit on February 11-13.

"First of all, I’m really happy," Marquez said on Friday. "A vision problem is never easy. I just followed the advice of my doctor, the same one that did my vision already in 2011.

"It was a very slow process but we knew this when I had the injury. It was a nerve that affects the muscle… The recovery with the vision is not something you can play with. You have clear vision or you don’t. it’s on or off.

"I'm the first one when I have an injury, I want to ride the next day. But with experience, and in this case from 2011, you can’t say [how long it will take].

"The doctors didn’t say 'you will be 1 month, 3 month or 6 months'. Even the doctors don’t know. It was tricky. But step by step it was coming better.

"But when you have these injuries, everything is on the table: surgery, time, possibility to not ride a bike. It was difficult, a hard time. You don’t know your future."

Marquez explained that he dealt with the uncertainty by cutting himself off from the MotoGP world.

"As you see on social media, I tried to forget the work [MotoGP] and just have normal life and stay at home. I tried to forget what I was doing and what I’ll do. Especially the first weeks of the injury.

"But obviously it’s difficult and obviously it’s hard. Especially when you have a vision problem that in the first month I couldn’t even have a normal life. I was on the sofa, I would stand up, I was like one hour, I try to go on the seat but it was impossible. The feeling was not great.

"So yeah, it’s difficult. For that reason, I say I don’t wish anyone to have these kinds of injuries. It’s a long period."

Marquez continued: "But especially last month started better. When I started to feel better one week ago I started cycling with the road bicycle. Then with mountain bike cycling. The feeling was good. Was better.

"This week when I had the doctor's check he confirmed that feeling and allowed me to ride a bike.

"I chose a motocross bike. One because it was the one I was using when I was injured. And it’s really demanding. Some jumps, you need completely all the vision. The result was very positive. If I’m riding a bike it means I have a perfect vision and it looks like we don’t need surgery. 

"But at the moment I want to follow the advice of doctor. He wants to see in a GP circuit riding with high speed alone. I mean,doing a one day test with a lot of laps. When I get tired, if I have some problems or not. My doctor wants to evaluate all these things before allowing me to be at the Malaysian test.

"So, first of all, to confirm I’ll be in Malaysia. I want to try more days and I want to try on a GP circuit to see because I want to be 100% sure when I start the pre-season I will be fixed and ready to do a normal season.

"Now all the Repsol team is trying to organise a test with a CBR1000 or the RCV (road bike).

"Since I got injured my goal was try to be at the first test or the first race of the season. It looks like we’re heading in a good way but we need to try on a GP circuit with high speed.

"The vision is very serious, so I know I’ll follow the advice of the doctor. At the moment I feel really good. This is the most important."

Marquez, Honda's only MotoGP race winner since 2019, has battled injuries for the past four winters, undergoing shoulder surgery in the run-up to the 2019 and 2020 seasons, the infected arm fracture in 2021 and now vision issues for 2022.

The new racing season begins in Qatar on March 4-6.