Marc Marquez’s physio made a big mistake during his Honda injury nightmare and he still regrets it

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Marc Marquez secured his seventh MotoGP title with Ducati at Motegi last weekend. It marks a sensational comeback after years of suffering with injury at Honda.

The Ant of Cervera was at the peak of his powers in the 2010s, winning six MotoGP titles with the Japanese giants between 2013 and 2019. Marquez and Honda looked unstoppable until his reign came to an abrupt halt in 2020.

The Spaniard suffered a highside at Jerez, breaking the humerus in his right arm in a violent crash. Such an accident should have prompted a spell on the sidelines, but being Marquez, he was determined to get back on the track.

Marquez is known for an intense training programme and pushing himself to the limit, and that is what he did at Jerez in 2020 as he tried to return for the second race. However, he withdrew from the event due to complications with his injury.

Marc Marquez ‘recognises’ that coming back too soon from his 2020 crash at Jerez was his ‘biggest mistake’

Marquez would not return that season as he underwent numerous surgeries to fix his arm. Speaking to AS, his physio, Carlos Garcia, said that the Spaniard recognises that returning too soon at Jerez was his ‘biggest mistake’, as he suffered multiple complications afterwards.

“He fell in Jerez and underwent surgery on his humerus. In principle, it’s not a hyper-complex injury, but it is something that requires time, like any fracture,” explained Garcia.

“Bone fractures require between four and eight weeks to heal. In a normal process, any bone in the body with good blood supply should heal.

“He got back on the bike in Jerez, did two training sessions, one with a good pace, and then decided to stop because he noticed something he wasn’t quite happy with.

“It was the agreement he had with the doctors: if he noticed anything, even the slightest thing, he would stop. And so it was, which is why he didn’t compete in the second Jerez GP of 2020.

“Marc recognizes that comeback as the biggest mistake of his sporting career, because of the rush, because they didn’t stop him, and because he didn’t stop. 

“That was a mistake, I think everyone recognizes, and I wouldn’t like to put the spotlight on anyone in particular, but certainly not on Marc.”

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Marc Marquez’s physio still regrets not forcing him to stop riding after Jerez 2020 crash

Garcia added that he should not have let Marquez return to his RC213V after his highside. He still regrets not forcing him onto the sidelines: “At that moment, we can all have our opinions about what was best and worst,” he said.

“Where I do blame myself first, and I think it should weigh on us all, is that we gave our message that maybe it wasn’t the best thing to compete that weekend, but maybe we should have forced Marc, despite him having other information, not to compete, but it wasn’t his fault.

“He should have reappeared at the latest in Austria, and that already seems dangerous to me.”

Marquez left Honda for Gresini in 2024, sacrificing a multi-million-pound contract in pursuit of another MotoGP title. He joined the factory Ducati team this season, where he has gone on to dominate the field and secure his ninth Grand Prix championship.

Honda staff were ‘really emotional’ as Marquez won the title, with Garcia sharing an embrace with him on the pit wall. Marquez told Honda he would return to the top after he left the team; his promise has now come true as he stands as one of the all-time greats.