Watching rivals fumble MotoGP title fight motivates Marquez comeback bid

Marc Marquez says watching rivals fail to capitalise on the opportunities of a remarkably open 2020 MotoGP World Championship title fight is motivating his recovery efforts as a potential comeback looms later this month.

The six-time MotoGP World Champion has not thrown his leg over a race bike since July’s second round in Jerez when he aborted an attempt to return to action just days after fracturing his arm in a high-speed off during the season opener at the same circuit.

With the injury proving more serious than originally thought, it was suggested Marquez would sit out the remainder of the 2020 MotoGP season initially. However, he has hinted he could attempt a return at one of the upcoming Aragon races on 18 or 25 October.

While it would be too late for Marquez to make an impression on this year’s title fight in terms of points, his presence would signal an interesting shift in dynamic given no clear front runner has emerged from the opening eight rounds.

The date, six riders have topped the podium in 2020 - four of them for the first time in their careers - while a modest 36 points covers the top seven riders amid sporadic turns of success and problems for the perceived leading contenders.

It is this openness that Marquez says is motivating his recovery, the Repsol Honda rider saying it makes him ‘angry’ he is not out there fighting too.

"Watching the races from home creates some anxiety, anger, but that's what you have to do,” he replied in answer to a question submitted in Repsol Q&A. “Seeing that the rivals do not score many points makes you want to come back.”

Touching on his recovery process, Marquez says he will only come back when it is physically able to do so but feels he is making progress now.

“Both mentally and physically I feel good. I would return tomorrow for myself, but it will not be tomorrow. I think it will be sooner rather than later.

“My mentality will be the same: Try to be on the limit, force my arm, but always within the doctors' deadlines. And when I get back up on the bike, my approach will be the same: attack. 

“So when I come back I have to be in good physical condition. The arm will have to be at 80 or 90 percent to try to be fast from the start.”

As the only rider to have won more than one race this season, Fabio Quartararo currently leads the standings by eight points from the ultra-consistent Joan Mir on the Suzuki.