Doctors advised Marc Marquez to miss his home round of the MotoGP World Championship this weekend at Jerez in Spain or potentially risk ending his career if he sustained more damage to his injured finger.
The Repsol Honda rider fractured the first metacarpal of his right thumb after ramming into Miguel Oliveira in the season-opener at Portimao in Portugal in March.
Marquez, who has been replaced in the factory team for Round 4 at Jerez by HRC World Superbike rider Iker Lecuona, said: “I was expecting to be here competing, and the Spanish GP is one of the most important ones for me, for the team and all the sponsors, but especially for the fans.
“It’s one of my favourite circuits, but realistically speaking, the doctors, from the beginning, say six to eight weeks [until the injury would be sufficiently healed].
“But I’m optimistic, and I said I would try to do this in four, but then last Tuesday, when we had the CT scan, three medical teams said it was too risky – it was a very high risk of destroying the surgery. For that reason, I cannot go against the doctors,” he added.
“They say that it is a small crack that gives stability to the finger. It is one of the most important ones, especially on the braking point.
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“The problem is if I injure again, then it could be the end of my career because it is a very important finger.”
Marquez said he will now focus on his rehabilitation with the aim of returning for Round 5 at Le Mans in France in two weeks.
“We decided not to compete here, and I will return home and continue with my rehabilitation because now is the time to have a good routine and be very precise because, in two weeks, we have another race,” he said.
“So the main target is to try to be at Le Mans, but that is not 100 percent sure.”
He received a double Long Lap penalty due to the controversial incident with Oliveira, which he was due to serve at Round 2 in Argentina.
However, after Marquez was unable to race because of his injury, FIM Stewards changed the wording of the penalty, stating that the six-time premier class champion would have to serve it at the next round he was fit to compete in.
Honda appealed, and the case was referred to the MotoGP Court of Appeal, which granted a stay of execution on the penalty until the issue is fully resolved.
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