Team HRC boss Alberto Puig has dismissed suggestions Marc Marquez won’t get back to the form that made him the dominant force in MotoGP for several years despite a race-winning but crash-strewn return to the fray.
Marquez returned to MotoGP from round three of the 2021 season following ten months out of action recovering from an arm injury sustained in an accident at the 2020 opener in Jerez.
The accident came at the height of his ‘powers’ in the sport, bringing an abrupt end to a run of dominance that had seen Marquez clinch six titles in seven years.
With his rehabilitation proving more arduous than initially expected, there were concerns Marquez wouldn’t return to a high level on his return. The reality has been far more mixed than that, Marquez battling both fitness and a temperamental RC213V that has lost its way in development.
He has returned to winning ways though with a stunning ride to victory in the German MotoGP, but elsewhere his comeback has been typified by a series of accidents, including particularly large ones at Jerez and Assen.
While Marquez has been upbeat about his fitness levels, Puig maintains the Spaniard is still on the road to recovery and that his performances are being achieved with only an ‘arm and a half’.
“I think some people have forgotten who Marc Marquez is,” Puig told MotoGP.com. “I'm not the type of person who reads all the reports and analyses that are in the papers because I don't really care. But I've heard from my press manager that there have been some weird comments in the past about his comeback and his skills.
“I don't know whether people really understand what level he is driving at. Marc's comeback was more difficult than expected. And what he achieves in his situation is really outstanding. I don't mean to say that he only drives with one arm, but he drives with an arm and a half, so to speak. He's clearly not one hundred percent fit yet.”
Often the most vocal advocate for Marquez’s abilities, Puig maintains the eight-time GP champion still has ‘more potential’ than his rivals.
“I think only a driver can do what he does, and that's Marc himself. I'm not saying that as a Honda manager, but as a racer, which I used to be. He has a lot more potential than the rest of the racer.”
