P110
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
t was a moment to strike fear
into every other MotoGP rider.
Last week, Marc Marquez
appeared before the cameras
for the first time in some eight
months. And promised he was
on the way back.
Fear? Or relief?
Experienced Marc-watchers
noted that his long ordeal has
left its...er, mark.
The one-time choirboy-look
and innocent smile are long
gone. The 2021 version looked
drawn and angry: nose beaked,
eyebrows dark and looming,
eyes fierce.
Understandably so. As he
mentioned, this is the first time
in his life (at least since he was
about five) that he has been off
his motorcycle for so long.
Breaking his right humerus
after that heroic comeback ride
in the opening round of last sea-
son at Jerez left the 28-year-old
with his first incapacitating injury,
although only just. Back in 2011
his career was terminally threat-
ened by a pervasive concussion
that left him with double vision,
requiring micro-surgery to cor-
rect.
This time around, the fix was
not so easy, requiring three
separate bouts of surgery, the
second just a week after the
first, after he attempted a rac-
ing comeback just days off the
operating table and the plate
bent again. The third was in
December, after an unconscio-
nably slow healing progress was
discovered to be the result of a
bone infection.
The choirboy look was, of
course, always deceptive. Even
WATCH OUT,
EVERYBODY. MARC'S
COMING BACK
Pol and the satellite riders Nakagami
and Alex Marquez must seize their
chance to end Honda's drought.
