VOLUME 57 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 8, 2020 P21
More Bad News For Marquez
M
arc Marquez underwent a
third operation on his bro-
ken right arm following his mas-
sive crash at the 2020 Spanish
MotoGP in July.
The Spaniard broke his right
humerus in the accident and
returned to MotoGP competition
just six days later for practice at
Jerez at round two. However,
the strain on the arm from riding
was such he then rebroke the
plate holding his arm together
by "opening a door" and needed
a third operation after doctors
discovered an infection in the
bone itself.
"Marc Marquez has under-
gone a new operation on his
right arm as a result of the slow
healing of the humerus bone,
which has not improved with
specific shockwave treatment,"
said the press release issued by
Repsol Honda. "Today the rider
has undergone surgery at the
Hospital Ruber Internacional, in
Madrid, for a pseudarthrosis of
the right humerus.
"The surgery, carried out
by a team made up of doctors
Samuel Antuña, Ignacio Roger
de Oña, Juan de Miguel, Aitor
Ibarzabal and Andrea Garcia
Villanueva, consisted of the re-
moval of the previous plate and
the placement of a new plate
with the addition of an iliac crest
bone graft with a corticoperios-
teal free flap."
Marquez spoke to Spanish
broadcaster DAZN following the
operation and admitted return-
ing so soon after the crash to
MotoGP action was a mistake.
"The attempt to return after
the injury was hasty," Marquez
said of his round-two return. "My
plate broke at home, opening
a sliding door [doctors said at
the time]. But the plate did not
break there, it did so as a result
of all the stress that was created
in Jerez.
"Trying to return to Jerez was
a mistake. I've learned that the
riders have a virtue and a de-
fect, which is that the riders do
not see fear, so they [doctors]
have to make us see it.
"After the first operation, the
first question of every rider is:
when can I get back on the
bike? And it is the doctor who
has to know how to stop you,
he is the one who has to be
realistic. I went to Jerez with
the peace of mind that the plate
held because they told me so.
"I am brave but not uncon-
scious. If they tell me that the
plate can break, I would not
have gotten on a 300km/h
motorcycle."
Marquez faces a possible
six-month recovery time, putting
him in doubt for the season-
opening 2021 MotoGP race in
Qatar on March 28. CN
Marc Marquez's
arm is a mess, and
it's doubtful the
eight-time world
champion will even
be on the grid
by round one of
MotoGP 2021.
