Márquez in high spirits after Jerez crash

Luck was most definitely not on Marc Márquez’s side at the Gran Premio bwin de España, where he crashed out on the opening lap due to a freak accident on his Derbi machine. The exhaust pipe broke away from its connection to the silencer and sent the talented youngster flying through the air, ending his race prematurely.

Márquez had qualified in pole position and was one of the favourites for victory – which was eventually sealed by fellow Spaniard Pol Espargaró – after breaking Mattia Pasini’s five-year-old track record when qualifying with a blistering lap time of 1’46.829.

His crash resulted in a dislocated right shoulder and after a visit to the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona he was told there was no ligament or bone damage.

“I have been advised to rest completely for a week, and in eight days I can then start my active recovery. There was also a second degree burn on the left side of my stomach. Participation in the French Grand Prix in three weeks has not been ruled out,” said Márquez.

For a 17 year-old Márquez is remarkably mature in the perspective he has taken on the incident. “I feel good as there is no serious injury, and having the arm immobilised means I have no pain. At first it hurt a lot when the shoulder had to be put back in place, but now I feel much better,” he explained.

“It was a shame as it was a race I was really excited about. I had a good rhythm and a chance to win, but these things happen. Hopefully it won’t happen again because that kind of technical problem with an exhaust is quite unusual, so maybe next time.”

Márquez now plans to use what is almost a three-week break until round three at Le Mans to recover as best as possible, and get his early season title charge back on track.

“It also helps that we now have sufficient time to recover, because there isn’t another race for almost three weeks. For sure I won’t be 100%, but I’ll be able to ride the bike,” he concluded.