Andrea Dovizioso warns: Marc Marquez’s physical condition is more serious than expected – can the Spaniard still fight for the title after another shoulder injury?
The physical condition of Marc Marquez continues to cause discussion in the MotoGP paddock. Following his shoulder injury in the sprint at the Indonesian Grand Prix, in which he crashed after a collision with Marco Bezzecchi, the Spaniard is not yet back to full strength.
Although Marquez himself and his team are optimistic, not everyone shares this assessment. Andrea Dovizioso has now issued a particularly critical verdict.
The three-time MotoGP runner-up (2017 to 2019) and long-time rival of Marquez knows the Spaniard well. During their time together, the two fought numerous intense duels, especially during Marquez’s dominant Honda era.
Dovizioso suspects worse situation
Dovizioso continues to follow events closely and is regularly present in the paddock as a development rider for Yamaha. In an interview with the Italian website Moto.it, he made a clear statement about the situation of his former opponent: “In my opinion, Marc’s situation is much more serious than it seems.”
The Italian emphasized that Marquez has never publicly dramatized his problems: “Marc is not a rider who complains and he has never made excuses.”.
This is precisely why his actual condition is often underestimated. “The truth about how he really is and how many problems he has has never been taken particularly seriously – especially by those who don’t support him,” believes Dovi.
Marquez not fully fit by 2025?
His conclusion is correspondingly clear: “In my opinion, his situation is much more serious than it seems.” Looking back, Dovizioso even believes that Marquez was not fully fit last season, despite winning the title.
“Last year, he managed to win the championship. I couldn’t tell you exactly at what percentage level, but without a doubt he wasn’t at 100 percent.”
In this respect, the Italian still sees a lot of catching up to do: “He still has a lot to improve physically.” He also suspects that the crash in Indonesia has further exacerbated the restriction in his arm, “which I believe has no solution”.
In search of his new 100 percent
Dovizioso cites the race weekend in Austin, one of Marquez’s favorite tracks to date, as the final confirmation of his assessment. “At a place where he could have made the difference, he couldn’t,” he summarizes.
The Italian thus paints a much gloomier picture than many other observers and questions whether Marquez will be able to regain his old strength in the foreseeable future.
The reigning MotoGP world champion himself has recently emphasized several times that the main thing at the moment is to understand “what my new one hundred percent will look like physically”. A clear sign that although his recovery is progressing, it is not yet complete and questions remain unanswered.
While the Aprilia riders, above all Marco Bezzecchi, are dominating the early stages of the season and are at the top of the overall standings, Marquez is currently only in fifth place, 36 points behind. It remains to be seen whether he can get back into the title fight in this condition.
