Marc Marquez diagnosed with 'new episode' of diplopia

The eight-time world champion, who was forced out of the final two rounds of last season due to double-vision problems, first suffered back in 2011, made the announcement on social media:

"It seems that I am experiencing déjà vu... During the trip back to Spain, I began to have discomfort with my vision, and we decided to visit Dr. Sánchez Dalmau, who confirmed that I have a new episode of diplopia.

"Fortunately, it is less severe than the injury I had at the end of last year. But now it's time to rest and wait to see how the injury evolves. As always, thank you very much to everyone for your support!!"

After staggering slowly away, Marquez was ruled unfit to race at Mandalika due to a concussion suffered in the huge warm-up highside. It was his fourth accident of the weekend as all Honda riders struggled for corner-entry grip from the modified Michelin tyre casing.

Following the vision problems during his return journey to Spain, Marquez made an emergency visit to the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona to see his trusted ophthalmologist, Dr. Bernat Sánchez Dalmau, who confirmed a relapse in the diplopia.

Dr. Sánchez Dalmau stated: “The neuro-ophthalmological evaluation carried out on Marc Márquez on Monday after the head injury that occurred at the Indonesian Grand Prix, shows a new episode of diplopia caused by a recurrence of paralysis of the fourth right nerve, with less involvement than the one that occurred in the injury in November 2021.

"After this examination, it was initially decided to follow a conservative treatment with periodic medical tests. Next week, Marc Márquez will undergo a new check-up to evaluate the evolution of the injury and to predict the estimated recovery period to return to competition.”

Pending the outcome of those checks, the injury looks likely to exclude Marquez from being able to compete in the back-to-back Argentine and Austin rounds, starting at the end of this month, and put his 2022 title hopes on the ropes.

The Repsol Honda star, who hasn't completed a full MotoGP season since winning his sixth premier-class crown in 2019, due to lengthly complications from a broken arm at Jerez 2020 and then the late-2021 diplopia, finished fifth in this year's Qatar season opener.

Marquez was off a motorcycle for 2.5 months of complete rest after last year's double-vision recurrence, which was triggered by an enduro training accident. On that occasion the symptoms also took time to appear.

Returning to a motocross bike in mid-January, Marquez then rode an RC213V-S at Portimao before being cleared for a MotoGP return at the start of pre-season testing at Sepang in February.

But it was spelt out to the 29-year-old that there would always be the risk of a relapse.

"When I spoke to my doctor, it was my first question: 'If I crash in the Malaysia test, what is the possibility to create the same problem again?' And the answer was clear: 'The possibility is the same as you will have in two years. The nerve problem is there. If you crash tomorrow or you crash in two years and you touch that nerve again, it will be damaged'," Marquez said last month.

Although the Mandalika accident was one of the biggest of Marquez's career, having fallen less then ten times (five over the Qatar and Mandalika rounds, plus some testing spills) since the last diplopia incident, concern over how easily the nerve can be re-damaged will now be heightened.

Meanwhile, after the eye examination in Barcelona, Marquez visited the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid this (Tuesday) morning, where he underwent a general check-up to evaluate all the bruises caused by the Mandalika crash and undergo a brain MRI. This reconfirmed he did not suffer any other injuries.