Mark Marquez is officially out of this weekend’s MotoGP race in Argentina. Marquez is still suffering from double vision, although Honda says it has improved. Honda is not speculating on when Marquez will return to racing. His vision will be assessed on a week-by-week basis.
GP racing events normally begin on Friday with free practice sessions, but there were difficulties delivering equipment, including motorcycles, to the Argentine venue. Apparently, some of the airline delays relate to the war in Ukraine.
In any event, Friday practice sessions have been canceled, and there will be an action-packed Saturday consisting of several practice sessions and qualifying. Sunday’s warm-up before the race will be extended by 10 minutes. Stay tuned for reports from MD this weekend.
Saw a video on YouTube that MM is going to retire. Not sure if it’s true or not.
It must be true. The internet does not lie!
I haven’t heard that, but the clock is ticking. Racers typically get one decade of prime athletic condition, then it goes down from there. Granted a guy like Marc has enough talent that he could still fight for championships after his prime; but if he is at a point where he sees double everytime he gets a knock on the head, he has to be thinking pretty hard on it.
For the sport’s sake and his, I hope the doctors can fix him up. There would still be great racing without him, but I feel we’d be missing out not being able to see him compete with the current grid of talent for the next few years. If on the other hand the doctors tell him there’s nothing more they can do and the risk is very high for permanent disability, I’d rather see him step away.
Race fans currently witness the results of MM93 “competing with the…grid of talent” since MM93’s crash in the first race of 2020. The result is the 3rd consecutive season of MM93’s part-time participation in MotoGP.
One could make a good case for this explaining why MM93 is now into his 3rd consecutive year of part time participation: since the first race of 2020 MM93 on the Honda is either/both:
Not competitive or overall/in general, less so than his prior self
MM93 perceives himself as less competitive
The reality is that since the first race of 2020, MM93, his bike and/or his team have declined and/or the rest of the field have improved. Most like it’s some of both.
The result of the above is that for the last 2+ seasons (with 1-2 race exceptions) MM93 pushed so far beyond the limit that he crashed and injured himself so badly that he is medically unable to participate.
MM93’s ego cannot digest simply finishing in the top 15-20% (or worse) vs. his prior consecutive crowns. Instead, he crashes, injures himself and forces a medical doctor to prohibit him from racing.
This is MM93’s preference. He chooses it. Because the alternative is mentally unacceptable. MM93 prefers the physical pain of physical injury over the mental anguish of simple reality.
If correct, and I believe I am correct, MM93 is not the first nor last highly successful pro athlete mentally unable to come to terms with his string of non-participation and general mediocrity (with rare exceptions) vs. his prior string of Crowns.
Some folks don’t handle the transition young and stupid to old and wise very well. Lord knows I have stories about beat up racers about this guy’s age.
Guys like Rossi calcified quite nicely. People wanted him to retire because they hate to see their heroes age. This guy? Well, they don’t like to watch their heroes get bludgeoned about their head and shoulders either. He may or may not eventually become old and wise before he get’s seriously injured beyond repair. But that’s his deal.
It just rubs me the wrong way to have people eager for people to quit their life’s work because it is starting to negatively impact the quality of their favorite TV show.
Rossi was the last racer to ride in real GP. So obviously I supported him in any decision to continue to race.
MM is a problem. He is the reason that riders have become more aggressive and unsafe to the guys that they race with. I have no support for him at all, or the current GP series for that matter. But his retirement date is his to make. The damage he has done is done. What he does from here on out doesn’t matter. End of story.
Mick, for the life of me I cannot understand why you feel the need to comment so much on a racing series you hate so much. Maybe it’s just me, but you rambling on about how MotoGP is not “real GP” along with your comments about the lack of true ability of the current crop of riders is really just a waste of space on this website. We are painfully aware of your viewpoints on 2-strokes, dirt bikes, 4- stroke riders, the conspiracy about manufacturers purposely making bikes heavy, how Rossi was the last true GP hero, hero worship and fanboidom, how you could easily design a better bike than any other engineer in the world, how you will never buy a new bike again, etc. is just grating to read over and over again. Please go troll a different website where you can spread your ignorant, outdated philosophies to a more receptive crowd. Dirck, is there anyway you can introduce a feature on your website where I can block a certain poster’s comments so they don’t show up when I visit???
“Mick, for the life of me I cannot understand why you feel the need to comment so much on a racing series you hate so much.”
It just makes no sense. And he has an intimate knowledge of things going on in a sport he says he has not followed in a decade. One of life little mysteries I guess.
MM has an unfortunate blend of cocksure confidence and a kid’s disregard for a few bumps and bruises; I can not think of another multiple champion who has fallen so much. I hope he walks away while he can still walk. I understand he’s in the eye of the hurricane in terms of what the fans expect, the huge money involved, and HRC’s longtime preference of their machines instead of their riders. He also has a reserved parking spot at The Edge, where he’s fallen across more than a few times. I worry about him all the time, and hope he can get healthy once again, and somehow stay that way, or call it a day.
I’m a moto Gp fan straight up, But you Rossi guys are over the top. and are hung up in the past. If you are not looking for a showdown of a healthy Marc vs Fabio , Mir ,Rins, the beast and others I’m baffled. I’m still feeling robbed when Casey retired and was sad when Lorenzo went to Ducati.
Good decision. With double vision he’d be racing twice as many bikes!
When confronted with three different apexes, always choose the center one.
Have to wonder why the war in Ukraine would disrupt cargo flights across the Pacific from Indonesia to Argentina. Other side of the globe, a different hemisphere, and neither Indonesia nor Argentina have anything to do with Euro politics or Euro airlines.
Should have used Amazon Prime for their shipping. I ordered up a set of 6V6 power tubes for my ’64 Princeton Reverb last week from a guy in Long Island, New York, along with a “Fender, Corona, California” palm trees t-shirt from a store in Florida, and those bad boys both arrived here on my doorstep in California the very next day. Even the knit beanie I ordered from Estonia somehow only took two days.
Yep, just go ahead and throw Fabio’s #20 rig into an Amazon Prime truck on Monday, load up the driver with a case of good Indonesian beer, and hey, what do you know, everyone’s enjoying empanadas, ceviche, and pampas-raised beef trackside by Wednesday afternoon.
Bam.
I had read there was a mechanical issue on two of the planes. One was in Kenya awaiting the part which was on the way, and I think the other was repaired on site .
The only thing I can think of where the war in Ukraine would have any bearing is if the cargo planes (and therefore parts) were Russian made or their preferred parts supplier is a Russian company.
It’s been a couple of weeks now. You’d think that by now he would have pulled his helmet and leathers off.
I suppose the guys will straighten me out. He needs them because he is always rescuing cats from trees or babies from burning buildings or whatever. Heck, he just willed the sun to launch a big ol’ solar flare our way just so some Norwegian kid could check out some nice northern lights.
It’s like Randy’s turkey costume.
I hope Marquez stays home and spends his off time working on his macrame hobby; I’ve heard his hanging pot cradle designs are to die for.