MotoGP, Marquez admits he’s fast, but that his sight will always be his weak point

Seated on an empty fuel can, we hope Marc Marquez is the same as always. His eyes dart around as he answers the questions. He seems full of energy, despite the fact that he has a full 62 laps behind him. All this today, it must be remembered, with 35° C temperatures, perhaps 80% humidity and a track temperature of 70°.

The usual Marc, in short, who when they tell him that he has to abandon the aseptic Dorna camera that asks him the questions to be answered in Spanish, English and Catalan, he gets up abruptly to throw himself into the media debrief of the journalists, to sit with us at a table a few metres away. Darkness is falling on the Sepang circuit and Marc is absolutely, unquestionably, completely at ease with himself. Like a boxer whose robe has just been removed by his seconds to allow him to return to his usual place: the centre of the ring.

"When you get back onto a MotoGP bike you feel the adrenaline. I tried the new bike. I had three in the garage. It was difficult, because it is very different, but I consider it a good day ", were his first words.

You finished 8th, with two crashes. Let's say two slides. Can you explain them to us?

“The bike is different, so starting from this point, on my personal side, it’s a long time riding in one style. It’s true that the bike – because today I had last year’s bike too – and immediately I understand that the speed, or the lap, is easier to get with the new bike. But this created another problem, like always, and one of the things I must learn and I need to understand is the front feeling. That’s changed a lot. It’s true today – and one mistake was completely mine – one time I crashed and still don’t completely understand why, because I didn’t do anything strange. All these things, plus a long time without riding the GP bike created [a situation] where still I don’t understand well how to ride this bike. The lap time was coming, but I don’t know why.”

He says it with absolute tranquillity, Marc. This is not an excuse, nor does he seem to consider it a serious problem. It's just that that’s the way it is and he reports it to you as if he were asking you, do you want coffee with sugar or without?

“Today with the bike I tried two set-ups – he goes into more detail - With the first the problem of instability of the rear tyre remains, with the second no. At the moment, however, with the RC213V 2022 I have to sacrifice my strength, which is corner entry. If I push hard, I crash. Of course at this moment we are not yet in the best shape. We have more potential, but I still don't know how to use this potential. It is true that the bike works well in Sepang anyway. We didn't do a long run today anyway. I haven't worked a lot with the set-ups. I can't say: you ride more with the rear or you ride more with the front, because it is possible to change the behaviour of the bike simply by changing the set-up. It is too early to express a judgment".

Perhaps also because you are not yet completely 100% physically fit, we could say. He fires the answer back immediately.

“About my state of health: this winter the concern was the eyes, the diplopia, but without neglecting the arm. I feel better physically, but the use of the muscles you use when riding the bike cannot be replicated in the gym. This year's target is simply to try not to inflame the shoulder, because when it happens the pain increases and I lose strength ".

How are you at these tests, and above all how do you think you will be in the first race, in Qatar?

“Without riding a MotoGP bike for a long time, and especially not riding a lot this winter time – I rode the last two weeks, but not usually - the speed is there. But the feeling to try the things, the feeling of the limit, the feeling of the lines, you lose all these points and you get them by doing the laps. I said to my team today, ‘Forget about the things, I need laps’, and we finished with the same bike we started with. We tested a few things, but not much. Tomorrow, if I feel ready, I will say I’m ready.”

Do you ride calmly or in a corner of your mind is there the nightmare that a possible slide can make your vision problem come back?

"When I spoke to my doctor, it was my first question: If I crash in the Malaysia test, what is the possibility to create the same problem again? And the answer was clear: the possibility is the same that you will have in two years. The nerve problem is there. If you crash tomorrow or you crash in two years and you touch that nerve again, it will be damaged. The nerve is there - he says, pointing to the right side of his head, just near the temple - and it's weak. They explained to me what it is, where does it come from? No. I have strong bones because during all the crashes I only broke the humerus. But that nerve specifically, the doctor doesn't know why it's my weak point."