MotoGP Champ Marc Márquez Will Be Back On Track In Portugal

What does the future hold?

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Apr 12, 2021 at 11:43am ET

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It’s been nine months since six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Márquez last took to the track in anger. On July 19, 2020, Márquez had a massive high side at turn 3 at Jerez, during which he broke his right humerus. By December, 2020, he had three separate surgeries to get that arm back to a condition where he could start to get back to full fitness. By January, 2021, his doctors had cleared him to do certain physical training activities, including cycling.

Things looked even more optimistic when in March, 2021, the champ was back out on track in Catalunya on his Honda RC213V-S. Unfortunately for the racer, his team, and his fans, his doctors said he wasn’t quite ready to tackle the 2021 MotoGP season opener at Qatar. Instead, Stefan Bradl filled in for the injured champion, as Bradl had been doing since Márquez’s crash in 2020. The question remained: When would the champ come back?

It turns out that Portimao is the answer. On April 12, 2021, Márquez’s medical team officially cleared the man to come back to racing at the next MotoGP round in Portimao, Portugal, which runs from April 16 through 18, 2021. The official Box Repsol team statement quotes the medical report as saying, in part, “In the current situation, it is considered that the patient can return to competition, assuming the reasonable risk implicit in his sporting activity.”

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As for the champ himself, he of course was elated to be back. “I'M VERY HAPPY! Yesterday I visited the doctors and they gave me the green light to return to competition. They have been 9 difficult months, with moments of uncertainties and ups and downs, and now, finally, I will be able to enjoy my passion again! See you next week in Portimao!!” read his official Instagram post.

The very next morning, he made another Instagram post that hit a bit different following this exciting news. It read simply, “Engines on! It’s race week!