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Marc Marquez has conceded to enduring the “most difficult moment” of his career following the latest withdrawal from a MotoGP event.
The Repsol Honda rider was forced to pull out of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix at Assen due to the pain from a broken rib sustained in a crash during warm-up for the German round a week previously.
It means the six-time champion has yet to see the chequered flag in any of the eight GPs this year.
Marquez missed three rounds in Argentina, the United States, and Spain after sustaining a thumb fracture from a collision with Miguel Oliveira in the season-opener at Portimão in Portugal.
Upon returning to action, the 30-year-old crashed out of both Sunday races at Le Mans in France and Mugello in Italy before a disastrous weekend at the Sachsenring where he crashed on a further five occasions.
At Assen, Marquez again crashed twice, initially in second practice on Friday before running into the rear of Enea Bastianini’s Ducati in qualifying on Saturday.
The multiple incidents have sparked speculation Marquez will quit Honda at the end of this season, even though his contract with the Japanese manufacturer has another year to run beyond the current campaign.
Despite being linked with KTM, Marquez dismissed the exit rumours prior to the Dutch TT, insisting he would be willing to continue to work with Honda on “next year’s project”.
Unsurprisingly, given the crashes and the injuries he has sustained this year, Marquez said: “I’m in the most difficult moment of my career.
“(I’m) Lucky, very lucky, that I’m in one of the best moments in my personal life, with a very good team around me. Everything is stable and this helps a lot.
“It’s the only thing that is helping me to keep pushing and keep believing that I can do it.”
Marquez said he is unable to consider where his future lies as he requires time for his body and mind to heal.
With the summer break to reflect on how things have gone so badly wrong this season before the championship returns for the British round at Silverstone from August 4-6, he added: “I’m in a very deep moment and I cannot think about this.
“You cannot decide your future or things when you are in that condition. Now I need to rebuild my body, my mental side, during this month-and-a-half.
“First of all, I need to breathe, I need to think. I need to speak with my people and then I need to ride the bike again in good physical condition.
“Of course, I need to change the approach a bit because at the moment we are not ready to fight for the top and if you try, you cannot fight against the wall.
“If something is not ready, then you must accept.”
Adamant he is “a fighter”, he added: “I will try to keep pushing in every condition, in every situation I will have in the future.
“You know me, I will try to do my maximum. It doesn’t matter the place, the colours, the name, the position. I will keep pushing always to my maximum.”
