Will Marc Marquez Be Ready For The 2012 Season?

By Venancio Luis Nieto | Mon, 09/01/2012 - 22:13

That may be the most difficult question to answer of the 2012 preseason. After suffering a crash at Sepang caused the Moto2 rookie to lose his shot at the 2011 Moto2 world title, the double vision problems he suffered as a result have continued throughout the winter. Now the 2012 season is just around the corner, but Marquez' problems are not fixed yet.

Motomatters.com spoke to the man behind Marc Marquez on Monday. The 1999 125cc World Champion Emilio Alzamora talked about the dramatic end to Marquez's 2011 season, the improvement his eye problem has shown during the last few weeks and his hopes for a complete recovery before the 2012 season starts next February: "Everybody knows that since Marquez crashed at Sepang, he has been suffering from an eye problem", said Catalunya Caixa Suter Moto2 team manager Alzamora. "He sustained some damage to one of the four nerves that control his eye. That made him see double when staring up or down. It is a kind of problem that should simply disappear in a matter of time, so just after Marquez's accident doctors told us that it could take up to four months to recover completely. But then there was a different doctor who said that it could be fixed earlier. That's why Marc kept his championship ambitions to race in Valencia. But when we went to Ricardo Tormo for the last round of the season, it became clear that there was no chance for Marc to take part in the race".

If losing the championship against Stefan Bradl was not enough, Marquez' vision problems were still severe enough that he could not take part in the IRTA Moto2 tests at either Valencia or Jerez. However, Marquez started training after the season was over and has improved a lot since then: "Now things look much better for him", Alzamora continued. "He is quickly recovering his vision and started doing gym work and cycling some time ago. After trying cycling, Marquez has even started training on a motocross bike. He is not having so many problems on the MX bike because of the speeds are slower. But it will still take some time for him to be in perfect form again".

"We have to be patient. We are all used to riders suffering all kinds of injuries, broken bones and so on. That's why now it is strange to have to wait for improvements to his vision problems. All this has been unlucky. At least now he is only experiencing double vision on his left hand side. We hope he can recover completely for the last weeks of January, so maybe he can get back on his Suter for the IRTA test on February 8th in Valencia. We will find out more in the coming weeks. He is not in his best form at the moment. That will be essential if he is to get back on the track. However, we are confident about this because everything is going well".

We also asked Alzamora about Marquez getting back on track with his Suter before February, if his recovery went meant he was ready ahead of the IRTA test: "Because of the FIM testing restrictions, Marquez is not allowed to practice at official MotoGP racetracks like Jerez, Montmeló or Valencia, but if he does feel better before the IRTA test, we are also considering holding a private test at somewhere like Almeria".

As you can imagine all this situation has been very frustrating for Marquez and his team, but Alzamora is also happy to see how Marquez's frame of mind is getting better and better everyday: "Just after the crash Marc was very upset and nervous. He was also having headaches, but that was the first stage of his eye damage, and, as he has been feeling better, his morale has also improved. We are looking forward to him being 100% for the IRTA test in Valencia".

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Comments

Yes, Bradl is a worthy world champion. Please do not denigrate his achievements funnyman. There is no way to know how the championship would have panned out if Marquez hadn't been injured in Sepang. Bradl and Marquez were the two outstanding Moto2 riders of 2011. Marquez is a very talented rider, but he made a lot of big mistakes during the year. And Bradl had an excellent MotoGP test, so there's a good chance he will be a strong addition to MotoGP.

That's got to be scary for someone that young. Has to have been a hell of a hit too.
I know he's made a bonehead move or two but hopefully he's maturing through this sort of thing, he's pretty amazing to see come up.

I wonder if the initial impact was on his left side when he crashed/landed during the incident? His mind must have been playing tricks on him while he watched the championship slip through his fingers especially over a dumb-dumb move. Well, at least he's more positive now and training for when he is fit to ride again. Moto2 will be interesting as usual but more so if/when he's on the grid to redeem himself. Say a prayer for him and the team!

Marquez could probably miss half of the year and still win the championship. No worries there. I would be more concerned with the eye not healing to 100% Hopefully he takes his time with it. If he had made the move to MotoGP then yes there would be much more of an issue, and certainly time would be of essence.

If Marquez or anyone with these sorts of injury-related double-vision problems (strabismus) should want a second opinion, you should definitely pay a visit to UCLA's Dr.Demer. The guy is the preeminent expert in the field, lapping the field. I've known friends who could never have their double-vision go away until they saw him.

Hope he gets his 20/20 back quick. One hell of a racer he is. On the other hand,to suggest Stefan won the title by default sucks.
Furthermore,there is no doubt in my mind that young Marc should have stepped up and grabbed the GP opportunity for 2012. A million reasons why he should wait and 3million reasons why he, Alzamora and crew should not have waited.
Anyway,all the best for 2012 young man.

I recently spoke with one of Marquez's personal friends who had explained to me that the damage suffered to his ocular nerve was more severe than what had been let on. He had said that while the double vision problem has gotten better, the main issue is the blurriness in his left eye. He said that the doctors feel that although the issue may get better over time, it will never be the same. He also said that Marquez's focus has switched from recovery to moving forward and learning how to cope with the injury and get back to racing. He said that Marquez is mentally positive and fully focused on training and getting used to riding with the problem.

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That's nuts if true but, if you think about it, Doohan won quite a few titles even more heavily damaged. Hopefully Marquez has a similar toughness to him.
It's ironic that the crash that wasn't his fault is the one that messed him up and the one with Ratthapark didn't seem to cause him much damage. I wonder if his confidence has taken a hit though.

Hope that dude gets better. I always felt he was the one that Repsol seem to be grooming to replace Pedrosa, IMHO. After watching him last year go from jack up to almost taking the title and snatching me on to the bandwagon with it. Inspiring was all I had to say until the injury. Then it just seemed like he may have been robbed of a career. He is obviously one of the more talented out there. Bradl earned that title. But the way Marquez came back on him probably made him think a little.

Didn't Bradl crash out of the last race??? The what ifs must have been the real pressure on Mark's mind while he sat on the sidelines and watched the title slip from his grasp! That must have hurt more than the physical pain he was in at the time. But now he's 'focused' on the future! Is surgery possible to better the left-eye?