Marc Marquez says the most positive thing about his Italian Grand Prix sprint race was being able to write his post-race notes by hand.
While the comment was a light-hearted one, the factory Ducati rider said the fact that he could hold a writing implement after returning to the pits was a sign that the nerve damage in his troubled right arm was healing.
Marquez is returning to MotoGP action after two races away, having had an operation on the arm in the interim. His claims not to be back at full capacity this weekend rang true after his ride to fifth place in the sprint. Although he briefly led the race at the start, the reigning champion battled thereafter and finished almost 10 seconds down on winner Raúl Fernández.
Speaking after the 11-lap contest at Mugello, he updated media on his condition.
“Yesterday, I felt pain,” he said. “Today, I don’t feel extra pain but just feel a lack of energy.
“The most positive thing for me is that when I finished the sprint race, I was able to write the notes.
“It’s a joke,” he added. “But [in recent] races, I finished the sprint and I was not able to write on a piece of paper because the hand was shaking. So now this means that the nerve is coming back to normal.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Despite the good news on the writing front, the “lack of energy” in the sprint will be even more of a problem in the full-length Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
An attacking rider by nature, a key challenge for Marquez will be remembering the bigger picture as he rehabilitates.
“Right now, [riding] is a real work. I’m not enjoying riding a bike in these conditions. But [the main job is] to improve for the future and enjoy it in the future.”
When speaking to Spanish media, he added that his team boss Davide Tardozzi had effectively forbidden him from crashing.
“It’s one of the things Tardozzi repeats to me the most: ‘We know where we are and what I need least right now is an injury. So, Mugello is not the best circuit to [overdo things].”
Additional reporting by German Garcia Casanova.
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