Marquez says: ‘Pre-injury me could fight for MotoGP title on 2021 Honda’

Marc Marquez believes that on the current Honda, his pre-injury self could have competed for the MotoGP title in 2021.

In a crash at last year’s Spanish Grand Prix, the six-time MotoGP world champion badly injured his right arm, ruling him out of the 2020 season and forcing him to take a nine-month injury layoff as he recovered from three operations.

Honda went winless for the first time since returning to MotoGP full-time in 1982, and only scored two podium finishes in his absence.

Marquez stopped his winning streak in Germany with a sensational triumph at the Sachsenring in June, thanks to the circuit’s anti-clockwise nature, which relieved stress on his recovering right arm.

Marquez is now the leading Honda rider in the standings, four points ahead of LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, after missing the first two races of 2021 and still not fully recovered.

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Due to a lack of rear grip on the current RC213V, the 2021 season has proven challenging for Honda riders, with no other HRC rider making the podium besides Marquez.

If he wasn’t recovering from injury, he stated he would be in the title hunt in 2021 despite Honda’s shortcomings in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

“I think the pre-injury Marc could challenge for the title on this bike,” said Marquez, who won 12 races in his last full-season in 2019.

“I probably couldn’t win as many [races] as in 2019, but I could fight for the world championship and be in the top three very often.

“And I think so for one simple reason: on the tracks where I haven’t felt the physical limitation, or I’ve felt it less, I’ve been much better.

“But I can’t always make up for it myself, the bike has to help me, and it doesn’t do that now. Neither me nor the rest of the Honda riders.

“Now my physique allows me to ride a bike, but not to do magic.

“If I was far behind the other riders of the brand I would think something was wrong. But I’m ahead of them despite missing two races.”

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