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MotoGP, Marquez riding on instinct on today’s return: "I only had fun at the end"

VIDEO: "My arm doesn't hurt and I manage to have a correct position on the bike. As for racing at Aragon, it's still too early to decide. There is a small chance, but it's not my priority"

MotoGP: Marquez riding on instinct on today’s return: "I only had fun at the end"

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After 100 days, Marc Marquez is back on his Honda MotoGP bike. The Misano tests were the stage for his return and they didn't go badly at all. He completed 39 laps in the morning, the best of which was 0.864s from Aleix Espargarò's benchmark. He can't complain.

"I'm happy. In my first exit, I didn't enjoy it at all: these bikes are too fast! - he joked - Then, slowly, I felt better. I still know how to ride a motorcycle, but I still lack a lot of strength in my shoulder and also in my arm. The program was to do 40 laps and I did 39. I saw that the times were excellent, so I started testing the aerodynamic innovations”.

Before the operation, you were in an unnatural position on the bike, what about now?

“The arm position is more natural. I immediately looked at some photos and a video to understand it, before in the left corners my elbow was low and instead it is better. I still lack the strength to maintain the right position for several laps, but I always felt confident. But in the arm I feel OK, but it is true that the elbow I feel some pain and especially on the shoulder on the back part, I have some pain there."

Did it go as you expected?

"I rode on my instinct. After 100 days you are riding by instinct, you don't know how you are doing but the lap time was not bad. But it was not the most important thing, the most important is that these laps today, my body and my arm is in a good way. I was doing very short runs because long runs, still we need to work quite a lot, and I was touching the arm and shoulder because the muscles were for one-and-a-half years working in a different way. The muscles are working now in the proper way but are not ready to hold all the torque and power of the bike."

Is it still early to think about a return to racing already at Aragon?

"You know my mentality, when I see myself more or less in shape to have a great race, then I'll be back. If today a race distance it is impossible to finish. Maybe 10 laps in a row but a race distance, I am too far off. For this afternoon the program is physiotherapy and lots of ice but tomorrow we will understand if I did one step or not. Sometimes it'll be important to ride tomorrow and important to understand Thursday and Friday how the body and arm accepts it and then over the weekend we will have clearer ideas. There is a small chance that I will race at Aragon, but that is not my priority. "

What's the program for tomorrow?

“Already today I asked if I could continue lapping in the afternoon, but they stopped me because it is only the first day. I finished at noon just to be able to ride tomorrow too. If I feel good, I will try to do more laps than today”.

Did you have fun in the end?

"The first runs I didn't enjoy it a lot but then the last runs I started to enjoy it a bit more. Honestly speaking, I was suffering more than enjoying it on the first day. It is like this, even if you do a normal pre-season and the first day in Qatar you struggle because these bikes are so powerful and you can be very fit but the bike is different. Today I went out and everybody was super-fast because they are coming with another rhythm and from a race weekend, but I was concentrating on my way, the way to ride the bike, and on my position on the bike. It wasn't bad.”

Were you able to get an idea of ​​the new fairing?

"I focused on aerodynamics, and I will do it again tomorrow, because I still have the opportunity to homologate a new fairing this year. After 100 days you can be fast but you don't have that special confidence with the bike, you can't understand everything correctly. The good thing is that my comments are identical to Bradl's, we are heading in the same direction”.

 

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