After exactly 100 days, Repsol Honda star Marc Márquez got back on his RC213V for the first time at the Misano test on Tuesday: “I didn’t enjoy the first run because these bikes are just too fast.”
Marc Márquez completed 39 laps on Tuesday morning on the 4.226 km long Misano World Circuit (16 right-hand bends, 6 left-hand bends). With a time of 1:32.395 minutes, he finished the first session of the IRTA test, 0.864 seconds behind to the best time of Aleix Espargaró in 17th place.
In the afternoon, the older Márquez only watched his colleagues, but he answered the journalists’ questions. A good three months after the fourth operation on his right upper arm, Marc seemed satisfied, even if he still touched his arm and shoulder from time to time. “I am happy. I still know how to ride a motorcycle, but I still lack a lot of strength in my shoulder and arm. I only trained in the gym for two weeks and did two days of testing on a motorcycle – and then jumped straight back onto a MotoGP bike. The timing is pretty tight and I still have a long way to go. But I feel good, »he assured.
“I didn’t enjoy the first run because these bikes are just too fast,” the six-time MotoGP champion then admitted with a grin. “But after that I started to enjoy it a bit more. The lap time wasn’t bad either, but that wasn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is that my body and arm accepted those 40 laps in a good way. It’s true that I’ve always done very short runs. We still have a lot of work to do for the long runs. And I grabbed my shoulder and my arm because, as you know, the muscles have been working in a different way for a year and a half. Now the muscles are working the right way again, but are not yet ready for all the torque and power of a MotoGP bike.”
A good sign: Marc Márquez plans to get back on his Repsol Honda for the second day of testing tomorrow. “Yes, that’s why 40 laps were planned for today. I turned 39 and quit at lunchtime. We followed exactly the plan that we laid out yesterday. I’ve already asked if we could go again in the afternoon… But they stopped me because that was only the first day today. So we stopped for lunch so I can try to drive tomorrow.”
“Now the work with ice and physiotherapy is waiting,” added the 29-year-old Spaniard. “Because it’s important for the muscles to recover. I don’t have a lot of pain – I don’t feel any pain in the area of the fracture, the bone has healed perfectly. I feel it more in the elbow and shoulder area. If I have a good feeling tomorrow, I’ll just keep driving – and if I can do more laps than today, then I’ll do it,” he announced.
Has the eight-time world champion enjoyed the return to his MotoGP bike? He smiled briefly and then explained: «In the last laps I started to enjoy it. I didn’t enjoy the first runs that much, the last ones a bit more. To be honest: I suffered more than I enjoyed on the first day. That’s how it is on the first day. Even after a normal pre-season, you sometimes struggle on the first day in Qatar. Because these bikes are so powerful and even if you are really fit, it’s a different thing on the bike.”
“I went out on the track today and everyone was super fast because they have a race weekend behind them and have a different rhythm. I just focused on how to ride the bike, especially my position on the bike – and it wasn’t bad. Tomorrow we will try to take another step.”
However, Marc Márquez was also testing for HRC at the same time: his RC213V showed, among other things, the new fairing, which resembles the latest Aprilia variant with the side notch. “I concentrated on the aero package today and will do so again tomorrow because I still have the opportunity [für die laufende Saison] to homologate a second one. So we try to understand it. I felt a bit of a difference, but we’ll try to confirm that tomorrow. Because after 100 days you can be fast, but you don’t have that special feeling about the bike. So you can’t get it right. But the good thing is that my comments exactly match Bradl’s. That means we’re going in the same direction.”
He cannot yet say what next steps Márquez will take after the Misano test (the Aragón GP is coming up in a week and a half). “It’s still too early to understand that – especially because it would have been impossible to finish a race distance today. Maybe ten laps in a row, but not 27. I’m far from that, but we’ll understand better tomorrow. It will be important to ride tomorrow and then see how the body and arm react on Thursday and Friday and see if I feel any progress. After a great effort, however, you sometimes take a step back, for example if you feel pain. We have to see how I feel every day.”
Misano Test, Tuesday, Session 2, as of 4pm (September 6th):
1. Quartararo, Yamaha, 1:31,656 min
2. Marini, Ducati, + 0.171 sec
3. Bastianini, Ducati, + 0.416
4. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.482
5. Viñales, Aprilia, + 0.490
6. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.553
7. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,571
8. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.639
9. Alex Marquez, Honda, +0.752
10. Nakagami, Honda, +0.811
11. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 0.825
12. Oliveira, KTM, + 0.837
13. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 0.891
14. Martin, Ducati, +0.912
15. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +0.966
16. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1.024
17. Miller, Ducati, +1,033
18. Zarco, Ducati, + 1,349
19. Pirro, Ducati, + 1,566
20. Pedrosa, KTM, + 1,728
21. Gardner, KTM, + 1,888
22. Bradl, Honda, +1.922
23. Savadori, Aprilia, + 2,405
Misano Test Tuesday Session 1 (September 6th):
1. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 1:31.531 min
2. Vinales, Aprilia, +0.026sec
3. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,057
4. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +0.176
5. Bastianini, Ducati, + 0.210
6. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.277
7. Martin, Ducati, +0.333
8. Rins, Suzuki, + 0,405
9. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 0.419
10. Marini, Ducati + 0.506
11. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.524
12. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +0.538
13. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,623
14. Miller, Ducati, +0.682
15. Zarco, Ducati, + 0.690
16. Oliveira, KTM, + 0.805
17. Marc Marquez, Honda, +0.864
18. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 0.867
19. Alex Marquez, Honda, +0.945
20. Nakagami, Honda, +0.981
21. Pirro, Ducati, + 1,031
22. Bradl, Honda, +1,103
23. Gardner, KTM, + 1,208
24. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 1,289
25. Pedrosa, KTM, + 1,508
26. Savadori, Aprilia, + 1,848
27. Aegerter, Suzuki, +2,376
28. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +3,366