Marc Marquez (Honda) had a horrible weekend at Mandalika, crashing a total of four times, including a massive high-side on Sunday morning during warm-up for the race. Suffering a concussion, Marquez did not race, but began to experience vision problems on his flight back to Spain. He immediately visited his doctor and discovered that he is experiencing diplopia (double vision) – having damaged the same optic nerve he damaged a few months ago.
Here is a press release from Repsol Honda, followed by a quote from Marquez’ doctor and statements posted by Marquez to his Instagram:
The Repsol Honda Team rider experiences another episode of diplopia as a result of the heavy fall suffered during Warm Up for the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez was declared unfit for the Indonesian Grand Prix held at the Mandalika circuit after suffering a high side at Turn 7 during Warm Up prior to the race.
The MotoGP medical team confirmed that Marquez suffered a concussion and several minor traumas before being transferred to the hospital in Mataram, the capital of the island of Lombok, where he underwent a more exhaustive medical examination and a CT scan in which major injuries were ruled out. As a precaution, the MotoGP medical team together with the Repsol Honda Team jointly decided that Marc Marquez would not take part in the Indonesian race.
During the journey back to Spain, Marc Marquez began to experience discomfort with his vision and upon his arrival in Barcelona on Monday, he had an emergency visit to the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona with his trusted ophthalmologist, Dr. Sánchez Dalmau, who after an examination confirmed a relapse in the diplopia that the rider suffered last November.
This morning, the Spanish rider visited his medical team, led by Dr. Samuel Antuña, at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid, where Marquez underwent a general medical check-up to evaluate all the bruises caused by the crash and a brain MRI. This has reconfirmed that he did not suffer any other injuries.
Doctor Sánchez Dalmau
Ophthalmologist
“The neuro-ophthalmological evaluation carried out on Marc Marquez on Monday after the head injury that occurred at the Indonesian Grand Prix, shows a new episode of diplopia caused by a recurrence of paralysis of the fourth right nerve, with less involvement than the one that occurred in the injury in November 2021. After this examination, it was initially decided to follow a conservative treatment with periodic medical tests. Next week, Marc Márquez will undergo a new check-up to evaluate the evolution of the injury and to predict the estimated recovery period to return to competition.”
Marquez had this to say via Instagram –
“It seems that I am experiencing déjà vu… During the trip back to Spain, I began to have discomfort with my vision, and we decided to visit Dr. Sánchez Dalmau, who confirmed that I have a new episode of diplopia.
“Fortunately, it is less severe than the injury I had at the end of last year. But now it’s time to rest and wait to see how the injury evolves. As always, thank you very much to everyone for your support!!”
This just in. On top of seeing double, MM has developed acute turbo nuclear diaper rash from all the intense internet smooching of his backside. Please donate any and all desiccant bags from shipped goods in an effort to dry out the area because lord knows the sun doesn’t shine there.
Tell them Mick sent you. That’s bound to make you some Brownie points.
😂
Marc Marquez is a supremely fit and athletic 8 time world champion with a skill set few ever possess when it comes to riding a racing motorcycle. He is paid $10 million dollars a year, not just to ride around in 8th or 5th or 3rd, but to try and win races and championships, something he agreed to when he signed his name on the dotted line. Something he has done very well, and something he takes very seriously. I imagine he has not lost his own personal the drive to win just yet either. If that means taking chances, so be it. If it means getting hurt, so be it. If it means a career ending injury, so be it. If a Moto GP rider isn’t crashing, he is not exploring the limits of himself or his machine. Show me a MotoGP racer that doesn’t crash and ..wait I doubt if there are any…even the ones that are not as successful as Marquez. Racing a motorcycle at those levels is extremely dangerous, and comes with great risk. You can’t ask someone in his position not to try his hardest, not to try and win. Racing and winning is in his DNA. He will try to win, until he physically can’t anymore. He may be close to that point now, not because of the arm, but because of the eye nerve damage.
If that’s the case, it will be a real shame, but it will have been an honor to have watched one of the greatest motorcycle racers in the history of the sport. Even damaged he can ride a motorcycle like few others. Whether you like him personally or not, there is no denying the impact he has had on the sport of MotoGP racing over the last decade.
Will there ever be another 8 time world champion? I doubt it.
“Ever” is a long time. All records are made to be broken. Marc may or may not surpass Valentino’s numbers, but no one ever expected Valentino’s records to be touched, and here we are.
Someone will come along. Someone always does.
Maybe so VLJ, but with the parity in bikes and riders these days, I can’t imagine it happening. Seems Dorna makes rules to not let any manufacturer get too much of an advantage anymore… bike wise.
Maybe someday someone will come along and win 8 again or maybe 10 and beat Rossi’s record, but I have my doubts. I certainly don’t see any riders on the grid now capable of dominating the way Rossi did, or Marquez. But you’re right, you never know.
At this point I’m not sure that Marquez will beat Rossi’s record, which isn’t something I would have said 2 years ago.
Actually, he is paid to win championships. If he can win races along the way, that’s great. Marc recently threw away a championship season to win a single race, while he was leading in points. I doubt that’s what HRC had in mind.
Marc proved a long time ago that his way wins championships. Honda has been the beneficiary of Marc’s singular methods. As long as Marc kept winning races, Honda wouldn’t have wanted him to race any other way.
Also, Honda wanted him back out on the track as soon as possible, post-surgery. They could have and should have prevented it. They should have stepped in and said, “No, Marc. Not yet. It’s too soon. Give it time to heal. Let’s make sure we handle this injury properly.”
They didn’t, because they wanted their bell cow back out there just as badly as he wanted to be back out there.
Make no mistake, Honda is 100% fine with Marc’s racing philosophy. If they could have all their riders behave exactly as Marc does, on and off the track, they’d sign up for that in a heartbeat.
That would be all fine and good if you knew how many points everyone else was going to have at the end of the season and that you would have the most points at the end without having to try and win anymore.
Anyone else notice that Mickey has been absent here for awhile?
His last post on this site was on March 17th, in the Daytona bagger’s race discussion.
You’re right, that is a long absence for mickey. He nearly always posts something in the MotoGP race discussions, and in any thread about a new Honda motorcycle. Strange, that he didn’t post anything about that new Honda Hawk, which he will surely dislike due to its height, racer-boy seating position, and nasty-looking tail section.
Yeah, he’s often been the first to weigh in on anything MotoGP. Hmm?
I just sent him a PM. Hopefully he’ll respond.
Just heard back from mickey. He’s fine. He’s still riding every day, as long as it’s not snowing and/or the roads aren’t too icy. He said he’s burnt out on this site because of the way his posts always go into moderation status before they finally show up in the thread. He hates that. He takes it personally. It really offends him.
He’s also grown weary of the constant negativity of a certain poster here, who is like Mikey from the old Life cereal commercials.
“He hates everything.”
In a nutshell, mickey finds this place to be a bit too oppressive now, so he’s taking a break from it.
Finally, MM speaks the truth: “Maybe the biggest regret is 2020 when I broke my arm, racing again,” he said earlier this season. “That cost me all 2020 and all 2021.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/moto-gp/marc-mrquezs-season-in-doubt-after-nerve-damage-in-horror-highside/news-story/be2350809ac0944fce29064fa60a51a5
hu·bris
/ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/
Learn to pronounce
noun
excessive pride or self-confidence.
I find it strange and weird that MM sycophants have to live in denial of the fact that MM’s crash was clearly and unequivocally an act of hubris.
If it’s not, please provide readers with a story that demonstrates hubris and explain how it differs from MM’s crash.
Hubris always correlates to an unintended failure. Please don’t conflate MM’s hubris with all his success; success is obviously not hubris but is rather the opposite of hubris. Any person including MM can have almost untold success and still commit an act of hubris. Human beings are a mix of good and bad; as much success as MM has had he also has failure including the last 2 years and this year may not improve.
It’s possible to be an MM sycophant without denying obvious word definitions. Or at least I hope it’s possible!
The descriptors you want here are ‘fearless,’ ‘strong-willed,’ and ‘competitive.’
Not ‘hubris.’
Marc did not exhibit “excessive” pride. His pride was well in line with his basic reality (to that point), and known facts. To that point, he had always been able to race through pain and injuries. He had always overcome deficits. Even in the race that caused the initial injury, he had made up a massive deficit. Moreover, his progress through the field during that race gave him little reason to think that he couldn’t continue forward, past Maverick. The same tire, the same level of aggression, that had allowed him to knife back through the field gave him all the reasonable expectation in the world that he had things well under control.
The advantage of hindsight wasn’t available to him then. All he knew was the present and the past, and the present and the past were telling him that he still had everything under his usual manic control.
Fast forward to his next outing. Following a laughably cursory exam, the doctors and his team gave him the okay to race, even though they clearly shouldn’t have. Regardless, they did, and he wanted to race, as all racers do.
Again, there was nothing “excessive” about his pride there, nor his confidence, nor his willingness to give it a try. Those things all fall neatly in line with the mindset of an eight-time world champion who had never experienced a similar injury/surgery/rehabilitation; am eight-time, reigning world champion who had always known nothing but red-mist success his entire career.
If you want to cast aspersions on someone for trying to ride through a known injury, don’t blame the racer. Blame his doctors. Blame DORNA. Blame Alberto Puig. Blame the people whose responsibility is to maintain rider safety. They’re the supposed experts. They’re supposed to be looking out for him, and they all gave him the okay to give it another go.
Contrast all that with the current situation. There are a different set of known facts in place now. Marc now knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that not only is he subject to season-threatening injuries like everyone else is, but that he’s now facing the very real possibility of a post-racing career fraught with blurred vision and other debilitating realities.
This is not merely in the abstract, either. It’s no longer just the usual hypothetical admission of, “Sure, injuries can happen to anyone,” while thinking to himself, “But not to me. I never get hurt. I’ll always be fine.”
Nope. He has now tasted a bit of mortality. He’s experienced things he didn’t even know to fear, such as these recurring bouts of diplopia.
New facts. New realities.
Going forward, yes, ‘hubris’ might yet become applicable. As a correct descriptor for his present and future situations, the potential for ‘hubris’ is at least now in play.
Personally I respect everyone’s opinion here. There isn’t anything anybody says that would keep me away. Being free to speak is important, I just don’t have to hear you.
MY opinions on MM are that he’s extremely talented, fearless, reckless and the most dangerous rider to the other riders.
What bothers me personally the most about his riding is when he cheaply takes advantage of others for himself. An example is him waiting either in the pits or on the track to follow a faster rider so he can draft that rider to qualify faster than him. I know that’s racing, and part of the actual race obviously, but doing that during qualifying seems cheap to me.
Hopefully he makes a full recovery and demonstrates more respect for the limits and the other riders. I’d hate to see him permanently damage himself or other riders.
The whole waiting for drafts thing has always bothered me during qualifying for all classes. I wish they wouldn’t allow it.
MM will look back at the race which broke his right arm. It’s a race which he need not have to win.
He would have easily beat Mirs and Fabio in the following years and be the most successful grand prix rider of all times.
Best wishes and prompt recovery to Marc Marquez, great rider. I am a fan of Rossi but I see a great racer in MM too and very talented that has brought a lot of excitement to the sport. There will always be controversies in all sports and that is what makes it more interesting for us mortals.
Wow!!!! A lot of hate for MM in these comments. And a lot of just plain ignorant statements and observations. I never have been a MM fan because of some of the reasons listed here. But does anyone actually believe he is really Dorna’s first “golden boy”???? Remember that Rossi guy??? Does anyone actually believe that there has ever been a craftier, tougher person swing a leg over a motorcycle than MM??? If so, please name him. I don’t pretend to know what motivates MM and I certainly would never attempt to tell him how he should live his life. He is a big boy, he can make his own decisions. All I will say is that it is enjoyable for me to watch a person with his talent ride a motorcycle. Again, I haven’t often wanted him to win but it is a privilege to me to see such a gifted person perform at the level he does. Maybe that makes me a hero worshipper and a fan boi. If so, guilty as charged. Sticks and stones folks….
peeps like to hate..dont get it ..go to instagram ..not cool here
Craftier and tougher eh? Mick Doohan? Kenny Roberts? Gaston Rahier? Cyril Neveau? Toni Bou? Joey Dunlop?
Respectfully Scotty, yes. I think Mick and Joey might be in the conversation but that’s about it. I think people forget about MM before he even got to MotoGP. Winning from dead last in Moto3, pushing to the absolute limit since he started racing. Popping right back up from many ball shrinking crashes and immediately looking for the nearest scooter so he could get back to the pits and get back on a bike. I’ve watched bike racing since I was a kid and have never seen the desire he has has. Again, I’m not a fan of his but I have to give credit where credit is due. You certainly bring up some interesting names. Thanks for the intelligent discussion without any flaming.
Thats OK Kevin, I too have followed bike sport for about 40 or so years maybe a few more – and as an ex trials competitor and fun dirt rider in Oz I have a huge respect for the greatest trials and off road riders. And the Dakar has always fascinated me, particularly before the 450 days, and the before the days of satellite navigation. Proper tough event – day after day, where simply to finish is a great achievement. Of course we all loved Mick, almost the most ruthless rider ever…And Joey a true master of the Island (i’ve done a few laps there…) where the stakes are the ultimate ones…..
Full marks to you Scotty for bringing up Dakar riders, they are definitely driven individuals. I remember Rahier racing MX for Suzuki I think. 125cc World Champ IIRC. IoM is also a beast of an event. Maybe I would call the road racers more ballsy than tough only because they don’t often pop right back up on The Mountain Course. Are you still in Oz? I have been trying to find out what happened to Mat Mladin after those unbelievable charges were filed against him. Any idea???
I used to enjoy the comments section here, but this one is pretty sad. A few good comments, but lots of stuff that leads me to despair for the humanity of my fellow riders.
Man! Here’s about the most cringe worthy comment section ever. Hero worship is so unbecoming.
I guess I am in Nathan’s camp. If MM wasn’t Spanish he would have been DQed so many times that he would have taken up knitting and he wouldn’t have all the championships the guys here like to gush about. Karma is catching up with the lad. It’s nice to see that it still works.
I agree. If it weren’t for MM’s unhealthy willingness to take risks that other riders would likely not take, he would be just another top ten rider. The trouble is that you can only flirt with the laws of physics so many times before you start to lose. When you do start to lose and the injuries come, I think it perpetuates the decline as your strength, flexibility, and reaction times slip away. Personally, I do not want to see another rider have a life altering incident (or worse) on Sunday morning while I am waiting to witness that next amazing save. I think (as most people would) such incidents are bad for the sport.
Risking your own skin is fine. This guy is way too cavalier about risking the skin of others. Ain’t no way I would ever share a racetrack with him. He’s the Dale Earnhardt of motorcycle racing. People might like watching that garbage on television. But those people don’t actually have to race with jerks like that. He’s lucky that karma is giving him a fair warning.
Don’t worry Mick, I doubt you would be on a track with him.
And even if he did, the only time he would see him (briefly) was when he was being lapped.
It’s all a balance in the mind of sane people. We reason things out logically. Do I sacrifice my future life against a win today? Probably not. But most racers are not logical and do not posses the ability to look past tomorrow. They drive ahead despite the possibility of living the rest of their life incapacitated. The mantra of a top line racer is, “Winning is Everything”. Will MM continue to race and crash? I’m betting he will as soon as his vision is back to normal.
I have watched for a few years too, Roberts Sr, Rainey, Doohan, and so up to this last race. MM certainly is talented but in order to have a reasonable life post racing he must retire, as have many others before him. The accrued injuries will be a constant reminder of the downside of racing.
The haters on here are why I stopped posting for a while.
Here’s a good perspective: https://www.superbikeplanet.com/expletive-deleted-warriors-dont-let-off/
deano lives vicariously/sells advertising thru riders like marquez and schwantz. he is what is known as a “fanboi”. he once bought some old KR3 cases off ebay, then was suprised when kenny didn’t care. he writes of limp wrists and riders who would rather be dead than finish second and the “purity of our sport distilled down to it’s essence: winning…” people that think and act like this are a danger to themselves and others. marquez smashed into the back of wilairot after the flag flew for fp1 in turn 3(!) at phillip island for no other reason other than he had lost most of the session due to a mechanical. this was the genesis of his eye trouble. elevating this type of personality to near god-like status points to a lack of one’s own character.
I stopped reading articles on this website 10 years ago after comments like Nathan’s became the norm.
All negativity from someone who has absolutely no experience or knowledge qualifying him to spew his condescending and insulting bs.
Sadly, I see nothing has changed.
Years ago, motorcyclists supported one another no matter what they rode. We were United because we rode and understood the freedom, fun and fellowship of belonging to the motorcycle community.
I’ll make sure I go back to reading motorcycle news where the comments and the people writhing the comments don’t act, sound and write like ego driven 15 year olds.
You needed to stop reading the comments and stick to the well written articles. But the comments are why I come here!
So, somehow I am unqualified to express my opinion but you ARE qualified to denounce my opinion. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.
If you had to stop coming here because the opinions of others made you too uncomfortable, maybe it is you that has the mentality akin to a 15 yr old. Just stop and think about that for a moment. Friendly advice, work on your coping skills…. We’re talking about motorcycles here, it’s not the end of the world and not everyone is going to agree with you.
Also, because I ride a motorcycle I’m supposed to blindly support everyone else that does so? How foolish. To follow that train of “logic” I should blindly support motorcycle gangs that kill people and sell drugs, simply because they ride a motorcycle like me.
Wow….
Heed these warnings signs, Marc. You’re only twenty-eight. You have all the money in the world, as well as all the respect in the world from your fellow riders, former riders, team bosses, and race fans around the globe. Beating Valentino’s records is an ephemeral goal, at best. They’re only numbers. Someone will soon come along to surpass your numbers, whatever they end up being.
Heed these warnings. Go start your own Spanish version of Valentino’s Riding Academy. Get fat and soak up the sun with a bevy of Iberian beauties. Snag one of those Iberian beauties and give your doting parents a few grandchildren. Be there in full health to raise those children, and enjoy them.
Take up soccer. Bicycling. Fencing. Archery. Yachting. Cooking. Traveling and sightseeing, without the crushing time constraints and soul-sapping media responsibilities of a factory Moto GP rider.
Whatever. You’ll figure it out.
Just heed these warnings, while you still can.
That huge high side came on a warm up, I believe. Not qualifying. Warming up. Such a pity that the enormous talent is hindered by equally enormous poor judgment. I hope he finds the courage to admit that motor sports is not for him.
Motorsports is not for him….. 😂😂🤣🤣
Marc is a warrior and we are lucky to have lived on the planet while he rode. What happens now is anyone’s guess but I wouldn’t bet on him quitting.
It’s called “Warm Up,” but it isn’t a warm up in the way you are apparently thinking about it. The riders aren’t doing yoga and tooling around on the bikes. It’s the final session during which riders finalize decisions on tire selection andbike setup, and work on race pace, and committing all of the braking, entry, and exit points to memory. It’s just as high risk as all of the free practice sessions. Preparing to win is not “enormous poor judgement.”
“Preparing to win is not “enormous poor judgment.” Of course not. Flicking yourself into the stratosphere during a warmup lap is. I’ve seen this guy slice through the entire field from virtually last place up to second, then bin it trying to get the lead. He has the sheer speed to be the best ever but time and again he demonstrates poor judgment. I stand by my words. And when his career ends, it will be our loss.
It will take a career ending injury to get MM to retire. Hopefully he’ll survive it.
This twit is going to kill himself eventually. The only thing he’s capable of is pushing past 1000%, he has zero race craft which is why Dovi was able to outsmart him so many times. He’s continually pushing beyond the bikes limits and has more than his fair share of major crashes; the past couple of years they’re finally catching up with him.
Wow! Really Nathan? Marquez has no racecraft? Yes, Dovi outsmarted him so many times that Marquez has 8 championships. Your comments say more about you than they do about Marquez. Every rider on the Motogp grid has far more racecraft than those of us that comment about them here and l don’t see how you can possibly post something so ridiculous. While l am not a Marquez fan, l certainly recognize and appreciate the things he does on a motorcycle. We are lucky to be able to watch riders of that caliber competing at the very limits of what is possible. All of these guys push harder on a motorcycle than you or l can even understand. His passion and relentless desire to win are what drives him. He certainly understands the risk and your comments only show that you have absolutely no understanding of what he is trying to achieve.
Not sure what my comments “say about me”. Nobody is denying he is fast, those words didn’t come out of my mouth, that would be foolish. His battles with Dovi, when they were on equal footing, showed that Dovi was often able to out think him. You’re confusing outright speed with race craft which requires the ability to think about the situation and outsmart your opponent. The only thing he knows is to go as fast as he possibly can, pushing beyond the risk levels that other riders are willing to. When he crashed a couple yrs ago and destroyed his arm he was pushing well beyond the capabilities of the bike in order to make up ground from an earlier mistake of pushing too hard. This weekend further proves my point. It was clearly not Honda’s weekend, but he is incapable of analyzing the situation and settling for the best possible result. Instead, he pushes well beyond the capabilities of the motorcycle and crashes 4 times. The other Honda riders had no such issues, because they see their situation analyze it and deal with it. I just don’t think he’s all that smart, JMO.
That Dovi (or anyone else) outrode him a few times in no way shows that Marquez has “zero race craft”. You’re ignoring all of his wins where he rode faster and more aggressively than anyone else, while nursing his tires through the race distance. All the times he defeated riders challenging him directly. All the times he reached the edge and didn’t crash. All of these things happened so many that it’s taken for granted as his “normal”. At his best, he’s better at every aspect of GP racing than every other rider in the world.
No race craft? What are you watching? That’s silly talk…
I watch every race and have for as long as they’ve been on TV. I don’t consider mindlesly pushing to the point of crashing “race craft”, sorry. Yes, it is obvious that he rode faster and more aggressively that other riders on many occasions, not everyone out there is on a suicide mission, willing to take the chances he does every Sunday. He bashes in to people to make passes like he’s on an MX bike and has done so his entire career. The stewards have let him get away with it and now the next generation is coming up doing the same thing because they think it’s OK. This isn’t my opinion, it’s a fact that is openly discussed. There have been many fast riders & champions over the years that do so while have something in reserve. Marquez isn’t one of them, so we will have to agree to disagree.
I agree with Dave & Bill; I think you’re being too harsh on MM Nathan.
All the riders are all warriors risking their balls every time they get out on circuit, and every rider would lose a nut or more just to win 1 championship- but MM has 8!
I am a Doohan and Stoner (not his personality- complete whinger!) fan, but MM is next level and I think most us riders give him that respect and admiration, whether we like him personally or not.
MM= living legend!
MM is the best since Rossi; indeed he truly supplanted him when others couldn’t. But I would argue he is not a higher class of rider than Doohan; indeed they are fairly similar in that all thier championships in the top tier have come on one make, Honda. Mick raced superbikes and the Suzuka as well and was successful, and was widely recognised as one of the hardest, if not THE hardest man in GP racing.
Doohan was before my time honestly. In your opinion, what makes him a “higher class of rider?”
At Doohan’s peak he was similarly dominant to MM though it was during a time when it was arguably easier for him to win. This was when Honda, particularly his Honda, was imperious and other makes rarely won at all. He famously refused to allow any setup data to be shared with even his own team mate. It took him 5 seasons in 500cc GP before he won his first title. Marquez won the title his rookie year and again the following year. He then took 3rd, followed by four straight titles. Marquez also won world titles in both the other professional series he raced. Mick got 12th the year he raced WSBK.
I get that people have fond memories of Doohan. His recovery to win after turning his right lower leg into a living prosthetic is legend, but he wasn’t the same quality of rider Marquez is.
For most of MM’s career he was the master of flag-to-flag racing strategy, and racing in mixed conditions. He always timed his pit stops better than anyone else, as well as his tire choices. Other racers literally waited to see what tires he chose before choosing for themselves.
His race craft was considered second only to Valentino’s, and even that aspect eventually became debatable.
Yes, Dovi beat Marc a few times in head-to-head battles, but those victories were notable mainly for the surprise factor, due to their rarity. Marc beat Dovi (and everyone else) head to head far more than they beat him, despite Dovi nearly always having the much faster bike, which allowed Dovi to have fresher tires at the end of races.
Bottom line, you don’t win eight world championships without having stellar race craft. Did he push harder than the other riders, and much harder than the other Honda riders?
Yes, he did.
Besides Valentino, did any of those other riders garner eight world championships, including six in the premier class?
No, they didn’t. None of his other competitors had more than two titles in the premier class. Most had none.
It’s not called don’t-crash craft. It’s called race craft. The object of race craft is to win races. The object of winning races is to win championships. Marc did both things far better than any of his contemporaries.
Longtime readers here know that I have never been much of a fan of Marc’s. As a Valentino guy, I have generally rooted against Marc at every turn. I often thought he was a bit dirty, and, more importantly, lucky as hell, in the way he crashed so often without ever getting hurt. Other riders would suffer serious injuries from seemingly much less severe (and many fewer) crashes, yet Marc was always able to hop right back up, dust himself off, and dominate the rest of that day’s action.
It was freakish, and I said so. I also always said that one day all that crashing would have to catch up with him, and finally it did.
Doesn’t change a thing. His race-craft accomplishments are irrefutable. They’re etched in stone in the record books. Yes, he was often overly aggressive, riding with absolute reckless abandon, as well as a total disregard for the other guys on the track. Ask any of his competitors, however, riders and team managers alike, about his race craft, and all will vouch for #93’s mastery.
Dislike the guy all you want. Root against him to your heart’s content. Just don’t try to deny him his due.
Seriously, don’t be that guy.
As much as I hate to see Marc retire, I wonder if it’s time to retire before he loses his eyesight.
Marc will never tiptoe around a track. He finds the potential and limit of a bike by crashing.
It’s only a matter of time before he won’t be able to recover unfortunately.
It’s been 2 seasons + 1.9 races since MM’s crash at the end of the 1st race of 2020, that eventually resulted in 2 major surgeries. MM was the reigning Champion at that time.
Based solely on MM’s pre-crash dominance and post-crash lack of same, MM has apparently not recovered from that crash. (Plus his competition closed much of the prior glaring gap.)
One might describe MM’s post-crash history as fate cashing post-dated checks MM wrote prior to the crash.
The fact that it was purely MM’s hubris that inverted MM’s race history is something of which grammar and history buffs could take note. MM’s 2020 high-side was at least as epic as his most recent, largely because his 350# bike’s front wheel hit MM’s shoulder in 2020. MM’s miserably failed attempt to race the next weekend was a display of hubris that outshone MM’s original crash. Why? Because it was 2020’s first race and MM crashed attempting to pass Vinales in 2nd.
Yes, it’s mathematically possible that MM could have lost the 2020 Championship because he finished 3rd instead of 2nd in that first race. But the risk of crashing outweighed by multiples the potential reward. Recall that MM’s tires were fried because he earlier went off-track, was dead last and had clawed and fought (brilliantly till the crash) his way to 3rd.
Vinales, who MM wanted to pass, may never be the Champion, but he’s won several MotoGP’s even when MM was in great shape and MV was in highly competitive form on that day. First was well out of reach for everyone else including MM.
All of these things that you and others here list as flaws are the things that make an elite, multi time world champion. Take those “flaws” away and you have a Maverick Vinales or a Dovisioso: very fast racers who likely have the talent to win a championship but lack all of the other ingredients to do so.
He could have settled for third, fourth, or even fifth in that race you reference. That would have been smart, safe play. But the part of his personality that had him reach for more (you call it hubris which is, IMO, far too simple – a “hunger” I think is more accurate) is what has made him an 8x world champ as opposed to a once or twice world champ.
Hubris would be an over-exaggerated self-confidence or pride. Six premier class championships since he came on board in 2013… That is mastery, not exaggeration. Just my opinion.
You appear to confuse MM’s pre-crash history with his act of crashing first race of 2020 which directly caused him to require a surgically installed pin. And his free-practice 5 days post crash, which broke that pin and directly caused him to miss the rest of 2020 and some of 2021.
So you’re saying MM’s crash was not the direct result of “excessive self-confidence?” (the definition of hubris)
Was he confident he would not crash when he attempted to pass Vinales? I don’t know how you or anyone can possibly make a case that MM attempted to perform a race maneuver in which he lacked confidence.
Did MM pass Vinales? No. Instead, he crashed and high-sided, resulting in a pin being surgically inserted in his arm.
Because the pass failed, that is the definition of mis-placed and/or excessive magnitude of confidence (the same thing.) If MM’s magnitude of confidence was equal to the task, then by definition that means it was not excessive confidence and it also means he would have successfully passed Vinales.
The only way MM’s attempt to pass was not hubris was if MM’s goal was to crash. Is that your point?
MM’s life story so far is that he won 7 World Championships but since his last of 2019 he’s going on his 3rd season of non-participation followed by mediocrity (well, one race win IIRC 2021) and now more non-participation. Overall, he’s failed for going on 3 years now. Why anyone would want to live in denial about that is beyond me.
BTW, head trauma is cumulative. At a certain point Dorna’s legal risk factor in letting MM race will overcome their desire for more MM glory.
Just to prove my point about MM’s lack of candor. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/marquez-miss-indonesia-grand-prix-after-warm-up-crash-2022-03-20/
Apparently, he has the audacity to think fans are stupid enough to accept his claim that “we” (he and Team Honda) decided to sit out the race. As if MM and/or Team Honda had 1 oz. of sway in the matter which they absolutely positively did not.
A smart grammar school child can look at that pathetic video and know MM was knocked out cold. His trip to the hospital was purely incidental and/or a legal formality because Puig and MM demanded Dorna to allow him to race.
To get to the point quickly, no, I don’t think the confidence he had in that race was excessive. You can of course argue that it was excessive otherwise he wouldn’t have crashed.
These guys are always riding on the limit. Had Marquez been losing the front and rear of the bike at every corner trying to get back to the front, then I would agree with your take on it. But the bike was solid all the way to the point where the rear let go in glorious fashion behind Mav. So I think he had full (not excessive) confidence that the tires were still there, until they weren’t. That’s typically how most race crashes happen, yet we don’t usually go around labeling everyone with hubris.
If the guy thinks he can win he goes for it. We’ve also seen him settle. I don’t think hubris plays a part in his actions any more than any other elite athlete. If it does, then a lot of guys on the grid need more of it if they ever hope to approach his accomplishments.
Jeremy,
In the milliseconds prior to MM’s 2020 crash, did MM believe he would crash or that he would successfully pass Vinales?
I posit MM believed (had “confidence”) the pass would succeed. That is exactly the definition of “hubris.” MM had confidence in A when B transpired instead, and A does not equal B.
If that’s NOT hubris, please provide a story that defines hubris Re. “confidence” and explain how it differs from MM’s crash.
You can’t and won’t.
Marc had already passed fifteen other guys on his way back through the field, before arriving at Maverick’s rear wheel. At that point in the race, comparing his lap times with Maverick’s, he was clearly faster.
Why wouldn’t Marc have been confident that he would also pass Maverick?
It made pure logical sense…
“I’m faster than he is. I’ve proven it lap after lap, including this current lap. My tires seem fine. They’re still letting me ride much faster than Maverick is riding. He’s a sitting duck. He can’t hold me off. No way in hell. I caught up to him like he was standing still. If I pass him here, I pick up another four points. Who knows, maybe Fabio will make a mistake and giftwrap a victory for me.”
Trying to pass Maverick was not an example of hubris. Rather, it was simple common sense. Of course he was going to try to pass Maverick. Any racer in those circumstances would have felt justifiably confident there.