Let's Talk MotoGP: Marc Marquez's Injury Raises a Problem No One Dares to Discuss

The images are terrible. During the Indonesian Grand Prix, Marc Marquez crashed very heavily, taken out by Marco Bezzecchi on the first lap of the race. Although the diagnosis is still uncertain at the time of writing, a serious shoulder injury is suspected – perhaps to the tendons of the collarbone. This is too much, it has to stop.

 

The former Marquez

 

Before moving on to the sensitive subject, I would like to quickly return to Marc Marquez's weekend. Not counting the crash, it was, quite easily, his worst performance of the year. From Friday onwards, the nine-time world champion was in serious trouble, and even suffered two crashes, one of which was quite significant, which could have gone badly. Overall, I found Marc Marquez rather reckless. Sure, he said he could be satisfied with seventh place, knowing that he couldn't play for the win, but, in his actions, he seemed too incisive, too aggressive. I had the impression of seeing the Marquez of 2023, who, when he knew he couldn't win, would go for it, even if it meant crashing.

 

 

During the Sprint, he collided with Alex Rins, and received a long penalty – justified, in my opinion. Obviously, if he couldn't win, he still wanted to put on a good showing. That's commendable, in a way. The problem was that he had a level of commitment disproportionate to his abilities on this circuit, and the performance of his machine. For some unknown reason, but we'll come back to that later in the week, the Desmosedici GP25 was completely out of contention at Mandalika, with none of the three bikes performing well. I think all this was unnecessary., given his champion status and his new philosophy. Besides, he was quite angry with himself for having fallen twice during Practice.

Unfortunately, it didn't change much in the end, as he was harpooned by Marco Bezzecchi on the first lap of the GP. The Italian, caught in Marquez's slipstream, was unable to avoid the collision after a botched start. The "Bez" apparently escaped unscathed – miraculously according to Joan Mir –, but still deserves to receive a penalty at the next Grand Prix for this action.

 

How long will we tolerate this?

 

 

Let's get back to the main topic of this article. How many injuries will we tolerate before we change the rules? This is becoming a real problem in MotoGP, and in the media sphere, no one dares to talk about it; it bothers me terribly. I remember that at the end of the 800cc era, in 2011, everyone said goodbye without regret to these treacherous bikes. If my memory serves me right, Sport Bikes had even titled Rot in peace (rotten in peace) with, as the main photo at the top of the article, a violent highside by Casey Stoner. But now there are as many injured as there were back then!

These days, it's a massacre. These motorcycles are far too powerful, equipped with the devices Holeshot device et Ride height device that everyone describes as dangerous, cause losses and crashes on the grid. If Marquez is expected to miss Phillip Island, no fewer than eleven drivers will have missed at least one race due to injury. Eleven, that's half of the starters! This is unacceptable, and what's more, it harms the sport.

Why this epidemic? There are several theories, and all of them are probably true. First, the motorcycles themselves. These dragsters are far too powerful, far too sophisticated, and electronically assisted, which sometimes makes the rider a dangerous passenger – That was Casey Stoner's opinion.. Aerodynamics are also a problem, as it's not uncommon for our heroes to get sucked in without being able to do anything about it. There will be a change in regulations in 2027, granted, but why wait until then to ban RHD and Holeshot device, criticized by all, and eminently dangerous when they go off – motorcycles become real top fuels –, as when they do not trigger. It's not as if there haven't been any serious accidents at the start since these devices were introduced!

 

 

Approving and encouraging the development of such danger factors is reckless. Are we waiting for a tragedy to finally address the issue? Between now and the beginning of 2027, there are around fifty races left, enough to imagine the worst.

 

The wrong way

 

Well, everyone agrees on that. But the second point, which is never mentioned, is the number of racesThere are far too many races per year. It's a win-win situation for everyone, because more events means more revenue. The problem is, these people don't understand that this is seriously detrimental to the sport. More races means more stress on the body, a greater likelihood of injury, and less waiting time between Grands Prix, which kills interest. The worst part is that this is a constant that is verified in other disciplines..

Take the NBA, the North American basketball championship. There are 82 regular season games, not including the play-offs. Adam Silver, the boss, pushes to add more matches (like this awful winter tournament), caring more about the article than the health of his players. As a result, every year, the finals are ruined by injuries, and the winning team is not necessarily the best, but the one with the fewest players in the infirmary. The same goes for football, with the creation of the Nations League, among others. When players legitimately complain about the number of matches, the crowd tells them: "given what you are paid, you can play more"But these are the same people who constantly complain that football is slowly dying, that there are no more great players, etc. They didn't understand anything.

Well, it's the same in MotoGPHaving fewer races would allow for a better spectacle at each event, as a Grand Prix would be tenfold more important if there were fewer on the calendar. Back to the NBA. What have teams found to deal with this problem? load management, a cancer that now affects all superstars. Basically, it's the act of pretending a minor injury to save the player from less important matches.. So they can arrive in better shape when it counts.

By continuing on this path, MotoGP is exposing itself to a similar charade. If, in ten years, the championship is 24 to 26 GPs long – as is the case in F1 currently – we can very well imagine that the winner will not be the fastest, but the one who has preserved himself the most by attacking less. Imagine the post-race interview: "I preferred to ride for fifth place, because the season is very long.". Ridiculous, isn't it?

What did you think of Marc Marquez's crash in Indonesia? Don't you agree with me that a tragedy is imminent, given the number of injuries we have every year? Tell me everything in the comments!

As a reminder, this article only reflects the thoughts of its author, and not of the entire editorial team.

 

 

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport