Marc Marquez undergoes third operation as arm injury persists
Honda has confirmed eight-time GP World Champion Marc Marquez has undergone a third operation related to his ongoing recovery from an arm injury that ruled him out of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship season.
Treated amid concerns over the ‘slow healing’ of the humerus bone - which was operated on twice within two weekends of the accident that caused the injury in July - the news comes as he heads into the off-season bidding to get fully fit before the 2021 MotoGP season, which kicks off in February with testing.
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“Marc Marquez has undergone a new operation on his right arm as a result of the slow healing of the humerus bone, which has not improved with specific shock wave treatment.
“Today the rider has undergone surgery at the Hospital Ruber Internacional, in Madrid, for a pseudarthrosis of the right humerus.
“The surgery, carried out by a team made up of doctors Samuel Antuña, Ignacio Roger de Oña, Juan de Miguel, Aitor Ibarzabal and Andrea Garcia Villanueva, consisted of the removal of the previous plate and the placement of a new plate with the addition of an iliac crest bone graft with a corticoperiosteal free flap.”
The Spaniard saw his quest for a ninth GP title - and seventh MotoGP crown - come to an end just 21 laps into the season opening race in Jerez when he fell at high-speed rounding Turn 3, with a glancing blow from the bike’s tyre as he came down causing lasting damage.
Undergoing his first surgery in the days after the crash, Marquez attempted to return to action at the following round but would withdraw prior to qualifying. A second operation, required after he aggravated one of the plates inserted into the arm went on to sideline him for the entirety of the season.
The news will add weight to speculation that Marquez’s injury may have had a more lasting impact on his long-term physical condition than has been intimated. Nonetheless, the official line from HRC remains that he is on course to return to action at the start of the 2021 season.
