Marc Marquez’s alarming admission: “For some reason, I’m not able to do it…”
The MotoGP ไstar rider is an eight-time world champion, six in the premier class, a♐nd is lauded among the best of his generation.
But a dreadful period since winning the 20๊19 title - interruptꦚed by career-threatening injuries and Honda’s fall-off - have resulted in him making admissions that never felt possible.
“The summer break arrived at 💟the best moment for me, the cဣorrect moment,” he told .
“I was injured, I was empty in races. There were crashes. The rib was broken, the finge🎶r broken, the ankle…
“I took time to rღebuild my body and energy. And I had time to pr꧙epare the second half of the season.
“I’m still not 100%𝔉, especially on my right leg. B♏ut it’s acceptable to ride the bike.
“When I had🍌 the arm injury it was a difficult moment, very demanding, four different surgeries.
“Now I feel ready to fight for victories but, for some reason, 𒐪I am not able to do it.
“That becomes difficult on the mental side.
“Crashes, injuri🐈es, in my professional life this is the hardest moment. But my personal life is at its best moment so this compensates a bit.”
Marquez arrived injury-free into 2023 after incredibly battling back from a fourth a൲rm surgery🌺 a year ago which might have ended his career.
But he crashed o𝓰n the first weekend, injuring a hand, then had back-to-back weekends in Germany and the Netherlands where he was constantly in the gravel, and he withdrew from both grands prix.
Astonishingly after nine rounds of the championship, Marquez has yet t♔o complete a Sunday race.
“All my career๊ has been very sweet, flowers, very easy, a lot of𒉰 wins and eight world championships,” he said.
“Then one day my nightmare started.
“It was so difficult. Three years of suffering.
“It was time to꧙ say: ‘Maybe this is the time to stඣop my career’.
“But still the passion and motivation is there.
“Some people around me said ‘i💟t’s time to stop’. But most said 𝓰‘continue’.”
Many of Marquez’s pro♏blems surround his Honda - his team and fellow Japanese manufacturer Yamaha have fallen way behind their European counterparts, ini𒐪tially Ducati but now also KTM and Aprilia.
It has led to speculation that he could seek a new en💛vironment although, at Silverston🦩e, he revealed his expectation to stay at Honda in 2024.
“Every year 𓆏when I start the season it’s to fight for the championship,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the 🐓ninth championship or the first. I will fight in the same way.
“But it💟’s true 🎃that, today, we cannot think about the championship.
“The reality is we are not ready to win. Not me, not the bike, many🍸 reasons.
“In three years I have completed just half of the races. Many inj𓆉uries. It is time to rebuild confidence.
“Then I 🌠hope, next year, to think a♏bout the championship.”
James was a sports journalist 🐠at 🅘Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
