We made it this time ! The Grand Prix of Qatar is already in its preliminaries for a first weekend of meetings synonymous with the start of the campaign. A season that promises, such is the quality of the squad and the tighter gaps. We even seem to have a “dream team”. And it is true that, on paper, the Repsol Honda structure impresses with a duo bringing together no less than twelve titles. One of the two is the dominant species in the category, but it is still diminished by a delicate shoulder operation carried out during the off-season. But don't count on him to complain...
The surgery dates from December, but it is still relevant for Marc Márquez when facing the first MotoGP battle of the year at Losail. In this vigil of arms, the reigning World Champion announces the color: “ It's finally time to run again! This winter has been a little different than normal because of the surgery. I had to work hard and spend five hours a day in physiotherapy ". This shows that the challenge was significant to recover its means… “ I wanted to be in the best possible shape for the first race of the year ».
He specifies : " In Qatar I already felt much better than in Malaysia and I can now say that I am almost 100%. Honda has also done a lot to improve the bike and we felt very strong during the last test, especially since Qatar is not our favorite circuit ».
But the seven-time world champion warns: “ we have managed to improve steadily, but we must not forget that Qatar is a very special meeting on the calendar. On the one hand, it is the opening of the season, on the other hand, we are expecting very special conditions with this race under the spotlights. Above all, we will have to keep an eye on the temperatures which will affect the track conditions. ».
A mention which is not insignificant. His teammate Jorge Lorenzo had requested an advance of the race timetable for this reason, which had caused quite a few falls during the tests... But the timetables are for the moment maintained.
