Marc Márquez secured his place in Q2, but has no illusions about his physical condition, which is less than he had hoped.
Marc Márquez He made his long-awaited return this Friday at Mugello, after missing the end of the French Grand Prix and the Catalan Grand Prix. Having received the green light from the doctors, both before arriving and again today after FP1, the Spanish rider was able to fully begin regaining his feel for the bike, taking it step by step.
Initially 15th this morning, he hovered around 12th place this afternoon before completing a flying lap to secure direct entry into Q2, which he achieved by qualifying sixth. A solid performance on the surface, but which Márquez He immediately dismissed it during his debriefing. According to him, this single round is not representative of his physical condition, which he thought was better, even though all the signs are positive regarding his surgery.
“The day went very well because I didn’t have any tingling in my right hand. I no longer felt that sensation I had because of the nerve, which was the goal of the operation. That was what worried me most today. I must also tell you that I expected to feel better on the bike during FP1, and I found myself less comfortable than I expected.”, did he declare.
“Obviously, my body reacts immediately by compensating with my left hand, because it hurts more than usual. But that’s also part of riding, being there, doing laps and not losing rhythm. When you miss three or four races, you lose your race rhythm, and that’s when it becomes much more difficult. The experience of riding a MotoGP bike… No one has found, at least not me, a bike, a technique or physical preparation that can replicate it.”
"It's true that when a nerve functions better, new pains and discomforts appear, and I now have to gradually adapt to different positions.", he continued. “But anyway, it will be a process that will require above all a lot of patience, a quality I learned off the track. On the track, it's sometimes a little more difficult, but I have to be patient. I had to take that risk in Practice over one lap, so that at least tomorrow, even if things don't go well, even if I don't wake up feeling great, I can start 12th. And at least I'll be in the middle of the grid and I'll be able to run a decent race pace.”
Results of the Practice of the Italian Grand Prix :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com