Marc Márquez did not have the debut he had hoped for with the Ducati at the Sachsenring, his favourite circuit, during the day of practice for the German GP which was dominated by Maverick Viñales, with a time of 1:19.622. The eight-time world champion, unbeaten on the track, suffered two more falls on the Desmosedici and ended up going to the medical centre with severe chest pain. A little later, after complaining about his left index finger at the end of practice, a small but painful fracture was detected in the extremity which will not prevent him, on paper, from going out to compete for the rest of the weekend.
The thirteenth crash of the season for Márquez was a spectacular fly-by in the thrilling eleventh corner, he went flying and suffered a terrifying blow when he hit the asphalt. The image recalled that hard impact in Mandalika two years ago that caused a head injury and a new episode of diplopia (double vision due to inflammation of the optic nerve), although fortunately he escaped without any serious injury. “At first he felt fine, but on the next outing he noticed that he had difficulty driving. He has a strong bruise in the right costal area, which does not affect the bony part,” said Doctor Ángel Charte in Dazn. Declared fit to continue competing for now, he will receive physiotherapy treatment, anti-inflammatories and new controls in the next few hours.
Marquez’s second crash of the weekend came on his first outing during practice, and at first he seemed to get up without any further problems. In fact, he returned to the garage and got back on the bike, setting the provisional best time on his next outing. He missed his immediate return and return to the office in the paddockalready visibly in pain. He was visited there by his father Julià and his team manager, Nadia Padovani, as well as by Dr Charte, who urged him to visit the medical centre for up to five x-rays to rule out any fractures in his torso. A second visit to the clinic revealed the broken finger, an injury he had already suffered last year at this same venue.
At that time, the crashes with the Honda, the last one during the warm-up before the race, caused him a sprained ankle, a fracture in his left thumb and a cracked rib, which finally convinced him to take the step of leaving the Japanese brand. This accumulation of blows forced him, at first, to give up the races in Sachsenring and Assen. Despite the decision to leave the factory of his life, the 93 did not stop trying everything on the bike and ended up falling more than ever in his career, accumulating 29 crashes throughout the championship.
“The feeling with the bike has been good, but it is obvious that the accident has had a big impact on the first day here,” said Márquez in statements provided by his team, as he went straight to the physiotherapist after the medical tests and did not speak to the press in Germany. “I am not worried about the injury to my finger, but the bruise on my rib cage is certainly what is bothering me the most and has prevented me from continuing with the session. Now it is time to rest and tomorrow we will see what my physical condition is,” he added.
This Friday, which was very cool and delicate for the riders, was full of notable crashes. Marc Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini, also on the Ducati, fell at the same point. Fabio Di Giannantonio also caused a red flag when he hit the air barrier at the first corner in another notable scare. Fortunately, everyone came out somewhat bruised but unharmed from their respective mishaps.
This Saturday, Márquez, who finished 13th in practice, will have to compete in the first qualifying session and pass it to be able to aspire to the pole position on the track where he has never lost on a Sunday, accumulating up to 11 consecutive victories throughout his world championship career. During the previous day he already pointed out that he needed to be close to perfection in order to beat his great rivals on the track, the leader of the competition Jorge Martín and the current champion Pecco Bagnaia. This new day of hard work is the opposite of what he asked for from a weekend marked in red on the calendar.
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