Motorcycle racing in general and MotoGP in particular differ seriously from other motor sports with two more wheels in that the rider is the first exposed in the event of a fall. His equipment has certainly evolved, but he is not equipped with foolproof armor. Once injured, the same person recovers from his injuries in record time which continues to captivate ordinary mortals. And beyond that, it takes extraordinary mental strength to return to combat with still the pain and the memory as if nothing had happened. But since Jerez 2020 and the dazzling return of Marc Marquez to competition four days after humerus surgery, real questions have arisen, and which have developed with the medical saga of the same Honda driver which followed. Today, in 2022, we swear that we have changed the paradigm. The time for returning to competition at the pace of a lap record would be over...
A change of times that we owe to the man who experienced this piece of Grand Prix history and who is in charge of the MotoGP medical service. An antenna that the glorious Doctor Costa created with the means at hand. Since then, under his leadership, then that of his successors, things have evolved and the one who is now in charge, the Doctor Angel Charter welcomes it: “ the motorcycles evolve, the doctors and the medical team too. We have the capacity to do electrocardiograms in ten seconds or to defibrillate and do thrombolysis, which was unthinkable before. I want to remember Dr. Costa who has been here for 40 years and did a great job, one that could be done. We adapt to medical advances. We can perform operations on the track, both vascular and thoracic and of all kinds ».
In passing, he gives an interesting statistic: the accidents that occur in a season are around 1, of which 400 to 7 are serious, according to the statistics: or around one in 8. Every four, five or six years, according to statistics, a tragedy occurs like that of Jason dupasquier…But there are also dramas that are avoided. We thus learn that Michele Pirro went through a beautiful door… “ There is a boy who was about to die and then he wrote me a letter. Michele Pirro, Ducati tester, who flew to the end of the Mugello straight and had a very high-speed accident with cardiac arrest ... It's rewarding when a doctor fulfills his obligation and can get a patient or a pilot back. It's the only thing I know how to do » says Angel Charter on AS.
“There is a MotoGP rider who was about to die and then he wrote me a letter”
But in addition to practicing his art, the doctor must also play politics. An aspect of the profession which lifts the veil on a dark side of this sport. Because there is hurt and hurt, even if he suffers from the same wound. And the one who is also head of intensive care internal medicine at the Dexeus University Hospital (Barcelona) does not hide that the patient Marc Marquez is also an issue for many… “ Marc Marquez is a complicated and difficult subject because he is a character. The pressure increases a lot for the doctor and everyone then feels obliged to have their say ».
He cites the example of the reason for the vision disorder: “ With Marquez's latest diplopia, I heard ophthalmologists who hadn't seen him give their opinions and it became a kind of circus. I don't think it's ethical, because I never give my opinion on pathologies that I don't treat. Marc Marquez knows what he has and he knows the risks he runs. His ophthalmologist explained it to him perfectly and he is a professional. What he has doesn't mean that if he falls he will have another diplopia. It could happen to him now, in ten years or never ».
But the real Marc Marquez debate is that of Jerez 2020 and after… “ Marc Marquez is a special case who has caused rivers of ink to flow everywhere. Everyone had an opinion on that. When Marquez returned after his first operation, he was in perfect shape. The reports we received were correct and when he got on the bike he went fast. The prudential time was passed according to the medical code, the tests were done and Marquez was deemed fit because he passed all the tests. It's very easy to talk after the event. We are changing the medical code and are now more demanding. Then what happened happened. But now he is doing pretty well and the last checks he did with an excellent traumatologist, Dr. Antuña, seem to be going well ».
However, the lesson was: “ after the last serious accidents we had, including that of Marc Marquez, I met the general director of the FIM and Dr David MacMagnus, head of the medical commission of the FIM, and I told him that it was necessary change, and he heard. I asked him to do more testing on drivers when they come back from a serious injury and that it's not enough to make them make four moves that lead nowhere. We brought in neurosurgeons, ophthalmologists and traumatologists, all consultants alongside us. Even if they bring us the reports from his specialist, it is still up to us to consult our consultants and decide whether or not the driver is fit to take to the track. ».
And he concludes: the pilots are not unconscious and we will no longer see rapid recoveries with people on the trail with broken bones. Pilots are human. What happens is that they are prepared from a young age and also know how to fall. Remember how Maverick crashed last year in Austria and got up like nothing happened. What is very important for pilots, who are afraid like you and me, is that they manage their fear perfectly. They always know how much to risk and how to risk. There's no fool here ". However : " there will be no more miraculous returns ».
