Marc Marquez has spent more time riding a motorcycle as he strives for a MotoGP comeback at next month’s Sepang test.
The Repsol Honda pilot’s latest outing took place on Thursday (local time) at Aragon, aboard a CBR600RR, four days after notching up 65 laps around Portimao on an RC213V-S.
Those two track outings come after Marquez was cleared to ride motorcycles again, as a result of his ophthalmologist (eye doctor) finding a “clear improvement” in his vision early last week.
Little is known yet of his latest ride, with a photograph posted to his own social media accounts simply reading “#Honda #CBR600rr” along with a credit to MotorLand Aragon for the image.
The 28-year-old had been out of action completely since he crashed a motocross bike while training on the weekend prior to the second-last round of the 2021 season.
He was subsequently diagnosed with diplopia (double vision), and was advised as having injured the same nerve as he did in a Moto2 crash back in 2011.
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Honda was guarded about Marquez’s condition thereafter, save for an update on December 22 when it announced that he had been cleared to continue physical training.
However, it did not commit to any estimated comeback date, and the six-time premier class champion was initially set to skip Honda Racing Corporation’s 2022 motorsport activities press call last Friday (January 14), unlike the rest of the quartet which rides its bikes in MotoGP.
A backflip then came in conjunction with the revelation that Marquez had ridden a motocross bike again earlier that week, following the aforementioned positive assessment of his ophthalmologist.
The man himself would explain at the HRC call that he was as little as one track day away from getting permission to ride a MotoGP bike again, and rode the RC213V-S at Portimao just two days later.
The RC213V-S is the roadgoing version of Honda’s MotoGP bike, while the CBR600RR which he has now ridden at Aragon is a Supersport machine.
#Honda #CBR600rr
📸 @AragonMotorLand pic.twitter.com/xHI9U9Yf9g— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) January 20, 2022
Based on his comments following the Portimao track day, Marquez is likely to be motivated largely by the need to rebuild his physical fitness, given his eyesight is said to no longer be an issue.
“It’s a great feeling, a feeling of relief because when I was riding, I didn’t have any discomfort with my vision,” he said after the ride at the Portuguese Grand Prix venue.
“Since I haven’t ridden in so long, I did notice some physical areas where I’m missing a little bit but this is just because I have not been able to have my usual pre-season.
“There’s a margin to improve but the positive and the fundamental takeaway from this test was to reconfirm the feeling we had when we first got on the motocross bike and to enjoy the good feeling of speed.
“I have completed an intense day of riding with long runs, I am very happy with the results.
“We have two weeks until testing begins in Sepang so I will take the opportunity to intensify my physical preparation and train on the bike.”
As yet, there is no confirmation that Marquez will ride in pre-season testing, and he is not the only rider under a fitness cloud.
As a rookie, the 2021 Moto2 champion is eligible to ride in the Shakedown Test which will be held at Sepang on January 31-February 2, while Marquez would make his comeback in the Official Test which also takes place at the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit on February 5-6, fitness pending.
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