Marc Marquez has played down any comparisons between Jorge Martin’s attempts to race in the Malaysian Grand Prix with an injured arm and his own ill-fated comeback at Jerez in 2020.
Martin is pressing ahead with this weekend’s MotoGP round in Sepang less than a week after breaking the radius of his right arm in a crash at Phillip Island.
“I will not evaluate, because I don't know exactly what he has,” he said.
“I don't know if the radius is completely fractured or is a fissure.
I don't know, so I don't want to go in on that.
Marc Marquez has played down any comparisons between Jorge Martin’s attempts to race in the Malaysian Grand Prix with an injured arm and his own ill-fated comeback at Jerez in 2020.
Martin is pressing ahead with this weekend’s MotoGP round in Sepang less than a week after breaking the radius of his right arm in a crash at Phillip Island. The Aprilia rider could only complete three laps in practice on Friday afternoon, having finished 20th and 1.8s off the pace in FP1, before cutting short his day to conserve energy.
Six years ago, Marquez also attempted to race a week after breaking his right arm in the season-opening Spanish GP, having undergone surgery in the short gap between the two Jerez rounds.
However, his hasty comeback proved disastrous as he aggravated an already serious injury, requiring three further operations over the following years to regain anything close to full strength.
Asked whether it was risky for his title rival Martin to continue, given his own ordeal in 2020, Marquez didn’t want to compare the situation, insisting he couldn’t judge the full condition of his countryman’s injury from the outside.
“I will not evaluate, because I don't know exactly what he has,” he said. “I don't know if the radius is completely fractured or is a fissure. I don't know, so I don't want to go in on that.
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
“But I believe in the medical protocol, that if they say that it's fit, the pain is there but the risk is acceptable. But of course, the pain must be there. Martin is a strong guy, but today he was struggling.”
Martin received initial approval to start the Malaysian GP weekend on Thursday and was given the final green light to contest the race after FP1. MotoGP’s medical doctor Angel Charte evaluated his condition after he successfully completed 12 laps in the morning session.
However, the 2024 champion only added three laps to his tally in the afternoon, surviving a major scare at Turn 12 before heading back into the pits. His sole flying lap was a 1m59.670s, which put him 21st and last in a depleted MotoGP field.
Martin skipped his end-of-day media commitments to focus on his recovery.
He heads into Saturday’s qualifying and sprint trailing Ducati star Marquez by 10 points in the standings.
