Marquez undergoes second surgery, requires 48-hour hospital stay

Marc Marquez has returned to hospital to undergo a second surgery on his fractured arm after it emerged the titanium plate inserted during his operation had sustained its own damage.

Marquez first injured his right humerus in an accident during the 2020 MotoGP season opening Spanish MotoGP round, going under the knife days later to help stabilise it.

Remarkably, the six-time MotoGP World Champion returned to his Repsol Honda just three days later in an attempt to compete in the Andalucia MotoGP. However, he chose to withdraw following qualifying with a view to instead using the two-week gap to round three in the Czech Republic to recover.

That process has now been dealt another blow after the plate that was inserted sustained damage due to ‘stress accumulation’, necessitating a further surgery in Barcelona to correct it. Though there has been no further complications with the fracture in the bone, Marquez is required to have another 48 hours stay in hospital for observation.

“Marc Marquez underwent surgery 13 days ago and today he returned to the operating room,” said Dr Xavier Mir of the Hospital Universitari Dexeus. “The first operation was successful, what was not expected was that the plate was insufficient. An accumulation of stress in the operated area has caused the plate to suffer some damage, so today the titanium plate has been removed and replaced by a new fixation.

“The rider has not felt pain during this period. He has always followed the medical advice given and the feeling from his body. Unfortunately, an over stress has caused this issue. Now we have to wait 48 hours to understand the recovery time.”

There is no word yet on whether it will affect Marquez’s involvement in this weekend’s Czech Republic MotoGP in Brno.

He comes into the event with no points to his name and will be chasing down Fabio Quartararo, whose double success in Jerez gives him a 50-point tally at the head of the standings.