Marquez’s vision problems return after violent Indonesia MotoGP crash

The six-time MotoGP world champion suffered a horrifying highside crash in the closing stages of Sunday morning’s warm-up at the Mandalika International Street Circuit when the rear of his Honda let go through the Turn 7 right-hander.

Marquez was taken to hospital after the crash for precautionary checks and was ruled out of the race having suffered a concussion.

While the initial word from Honda was that he’d sustained no serious injuries, it has now transpired that Marquez has once again damaged a nerve in his eye and is suffering from double vision.

This problem ruled him out of the final two rounds of 2021 when he was left with a concussion after a training incident, while his career was put in doubt back in 2011 when he first damaged the eye in a Moto2 crash in Malaysia.

On the flight back from Indonesia, Marquez began to suffer more problems with his vision and immediately went for checks in Barcelona, where a new case of diplopia was diagnosed.

Marquez took to social media to say that this case of diplopia is "less severe" than it was in November.

A brief post read: "It seems that I am experiencing deja vu... During the trip back to Spain, I began to have discomfort with my vision, and we decided to visit Dr. Sanchez Dalmau, who confirmed that I have a new episode of diplopia.

"Fortunately, it is less severe than the injury I had at the end of last year. But now it's time to rest and wait to see how the injury evolves. As always, thank you very much to everyone for your support!!"

His ophthalmologist Doctor Sanchez Dalmau says Marquez will undergo checks next weekend to evaluate the evolution of the injury to determine a recovery time.

He was sidelined for three months that last time he battled double vision problems. His participation next week’s Argentina GP is currently in doubt.

“The neuro-ophthalmological evaluation carried out on Marc Marquez on Monday after the head injury that occurred at the Indonesian Grand Prix, shows a new episode of diplopia caused by a recurrence of paralysis of the fourth right nerve, with less involvement than the one that occurred in the injury in November 2021,” Dr Dalmau said.

“After this examination, it was initially decided to follow a conservative treatment with periodic medical tests.

“Next week, Marc Marquez will undergo a new check-up to evaluate the evolution of the injury and to predict the estimated recovery period to return to competition.”

Honda will now undoubtedly engage in deep discussions with MotoGP tyre supplier Michelin over its decision to use a tyre construction not raced for four years before the Indonesian GP.

After it encountered problems in February’s pre-season test at Mandalika with blistering, Michelin opted to bring the old tyre carcass – which is much stiffer – to combat Indonesia’s extreme heat.

While most felt the grip the old tyre offered was less than the standard 2022 construction, they didn’t suffer too many problems.

However, Honda was badly affected by a lack of rear grip, with HRC riders suffering numerous rear moments throughout the sessions.

In qualifying, Marquez crashed twice as he pushed the front-end of his bike – which was being over-stressed by the lack of rear grip from the old tyre.

Pol Espargaro said Michelin’s solution to the test tyre problems was “unfair” on Honda, who topped the Mandalika test on the standard 2022 tyres, and feared he wouldn’t be able to finish the race given how much strain was being put on the front tyre.

Marquez’s warm-up crash was indicative of Honda’s rear grip problems in Mandalika.

“We still don't fully understand what happened and we will have to have a deep discussion with Michelin about the tyre situation,” Honda boss Alberto Puig said.

“Going from being very fast a month ago to the situation we've been in this weekend, it's very difficult for our riders and it's hard to be consistent and confident. Overall, we can't be happy.”