Marc Marquez provides concerning update on comeback plans

The Repsol Honda rider withdrew from his home race last week, the Spanish MotoGP, and targeted a comeback next week at Le Mans but has issued an update which admits his plan is in doubt.

"The doctors will decide,” he told Spanish TV. 

“On Tuesday (May 9) I have a CT scan and let's see if everything goes well and I can re-enlist in the championship. 

“Being in Le Mans is a bit up in the air, but hopefully I can shoot in France to get to the right place.”

If he does miss Le Mans, there is then a month-long break until the Italian MotoGP at Mugello on June 11.

Marquez suffered a hand injury when he crashed into Miguel Oliveira in the season-opening Portimao race which required surgery.

He hasn’t been in action since, missing three rounds and now potentially a fourth in Le Mans.

He has been replaced by Stefan Bradl and Iker Lecuona so far, but Honda have not confirmed their Plan B if he misses Le Mans.

Marquez also crucially missed the Jerez test where Honda used a Kalex chassis.

There is still no clarity about the double long lap penalty that Marquez was hit with for crashing into Oliveira.

The rule was reworded so that Marquez must serve the penalty whenever he returns, but Honda appealed this.

The MotoGP Court of Appeal’s final decision has not yet come.

This ongoing injury absence is a nightmare for Marquez who entered 2023 vocal about being free of physical problems for the first time in two years, having fully recovered from last summer’s career-threatening arm operation.

But a totally different problem was caused just three grand prix laps into 2023.

He already sits 80 points behind championship leader Francesco Bagnaia.

Last year Bagnaia overhauled a 91-point deficit to win the title - that was an all-time record amount.

It means that, particularly if Marquez is absent from Le Mans next week, his faint hopes of winning a seventh premier class championship this year are all but over.