Those who know him well say that they have never, ever seen him so worried. not sunk nor defeated. No, nothing defeated, he is never defeated. It’s like reeds, they bend but don’t break. Sad, restless, disturbed, embarrassed by what is happening to him. Taciturn not seeing the end of the tunnel, technical, of Slingof the motorcycle, of his RC213V. And, above all, troubled. His fall in yesterday’s ‘quali’, when attacking from behind enea bastianini for being clueless, shows to what extent Marc Marquez Alentá He is, at 30 years old, disenchanted with the situation he is experiencing after two and a half years of Via Crucis, injuries, operations and rehabilitation that he would not want for his worst enemy.
So yes, it was time to approach the eight times world champion, while he caressed his pectoral, under his right shoulder, to massage the area of the second fractured rib (“I have never felt such a sharp pain, because I have never run with a broken rib & rdquor;) to ask him if it was the worst moment to his splendid, extraordinary and almost unique sports career. “Well yes, it is. Well, of course, except for the two years of injuries and operations, this is the worst moment, yes, by far. And I do not intend to hide it or hide. I am going to face it with the integrity that I face everything, the good, the great and the bad.”
Rains, it pours
“Psychologically it is, without a doubt, the worst moment & rdquor ;, he continued explaining, I repeat, without the usual smile. “It seems that it rains it pours. I try and it doesn’t come out. I fall down. I hurt myself. But you know what I think? It’s like when you have a bad day and you think the next one will be better. Or the other. Or the other. That is, even now or, better, now more than ever, it is my mentality. Defeating would be the easiest and you all know that I don’t like what is easy and I will never choose that path, ever! & rdquor;
That never! not only has it sounded round but, given its trajectory, it has resonated as very real. “In difficult moments you don’t use motivation, you use willpower, sacrifice, perseverance, routines. Now it’s time to go back home, work on my recovery, as there is a lot to recover to present myself after the July break, in Silverstone (England), in the same state of form, more than excellent, that I was in Portimao (Portugal) in the start of the season”. Of course, Márquez wants to disconnect for a few days “which will also do me good & rdquor ;.
“Defeating now would be the easiest, but you know that I don’t like what is easy and I will never choose that path, never!”
Marc Márquez / Official Repsol Honda Team Rider
Márquez, who finished 17th yesterday, his worst ranking in 160 MotoGP grand prix, acknowledged that, in Assen, he is racing because the rider is the first to set an example. Run for him. Well, neither the bike nor he is there to compete, as he already pointed out in Sachsenring (Germany). “I ran around in test driver times, that is, half a second slower per lap and, when I found a small group that was at my pace, I stayed there and calmly finished the race& rdquor ;.
Márquez has never deceived anyone, which is why he admits that if there was another grand prix next week, he would not run it. It is not that he runs out of pride, “by your nose? & Rdquor ;, as another journalist asked him. “No, no, I’m running for the team because that’s what I’ve been doing throughout this year trying to do my bit to overcome the bump we’re experiencing. The driver has to be the first to be honest with the team and his factory.”
Ask for forgiveness?
Everyone is very worried within the best team in the world, Repsol Honda, within the most victorious factory of all, Honda, in the most champion family of all, but everything, everything, is in the hands of the who speak less, of the mute Japanese engineers and bosses who have not yet opened their mouths.
Related news
Exactly five years ago now (Spielberg, Austria, August 2018), the Yamaha firm, which returned to the podium yesterday with Fabio Quartararo (3rd after the Ducatis of Marco Bezzecchi and ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia) publicly apologized to its riders, especially to the mythical Valentino Rossi, in an appearance by Kouji Tsuya, Technical Director of the tuning fork firm. “We want to apologize to our riders for the poor performance of the motorcycle they ride.” It was a way of doing ‘harakiri’ in public.
The Japanese Tetsuhiro Kuwata, Technical Director of HRC, Honda’s competition department, has not opened his mouth for months. And no one knows or intuits, because with the Japanese everything is a mystery, what is happening in Japan. Hence the concern within the Repsol Honda team is deep, immense. And that, knowing Marc Márquez, adds even greater concern to the mind of the eight-time world champion, who has always pampered his family in his paddock.