Marc Marquez’s vision recovery to race in MotoGP “harder” than in 2011

The Honda rider was forced to miss the final two rounds of 2021 and sit on the sidelines for three months when a concussion suffered in a training accident left him with double vision issues due to nerve damage.

Marquez went through a similar thing in the winter of 2011 when he crashed during the Malaysian Moto2 weekend and gravel damaged his eye.

This led to a period of uncertainty for the young Spaniard’s career, which occurred again last winter as he recovered from the issue.

Marquez was cleared to return to his MotoGP bike for pre-season testing last month and says the experience he had with his arm injury in 2020 helped him with his vision recovery.

“Yeah, I mean this time for me… always the last time is harder because you forget the first time,” Marquez told Autosport in an exclusive interview last month.

“But this time was harder. Why? Because I knew what would arrive, what is coming.

“The first time in 2011, it was like everyday ‘Ok, today? No’. Always when I got up and opened my eyes it was what I did [asked if today was the day I was better].

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But this time, when the doctor informed me I had the same problem, [it] will be three months [of recovery] it was like déjà vu and then I gave up [wondering when I’d be better].

“I said ‘Ok, give up’, and I didn’t fix any dates [to come back].

“It was like give up and the time will see, because if not it’s impossible.

“But it’s true that the last part, when you see the vision is coming better you start to see February is closer, the first race is closer and you start to have some feelings of anxiety.

“You feel like ‘what’s going on?’ But I gave up a little bit because it was minimum three months and maximum one year [out] because the doctor said ‘it’s one surgery, and if this surgery doesn’t work it’s another one’.

“And these surgeries would be three months [more on sidelines]. The arm experience helped me a lot on this last injury.”

Marquez’s eye woes came after he was forced to miss the entirety of 2020 due to a badly broken right arm, and would continue to battle the injury upon his return last season.

The 2022 MotoGP season begins this weekend in Qatar.