Pointed out by the Spaniard as an important support since the fracture in his right arm, the Australian evaluated in an interview to the Spanish newspaper AS that the six-time champion has already shown himself to be very strong and said he believes he will not have problems to return to the top of MotoGP when he recovers from his fourth surgery
Mick Doohan doesn't believe that Marc Márquez will have any difficulties getting back to winning ways when he returns to MotoGP after his fourth right arm surgery. The legendary Australian pointed out that the Honda rider has already shown that he is very strong and has won races even when he was not physically fit.
Marc recently cited Doohan alongside Alberto Puig and Alex Crivillè as former riders who are advising and supporting him in his recovery. In June last year, the Spaniard had already revealed that a chat with the five-time 500cc champion had been vital in the recovery process from the fracture he suffered in his right arm in the 2020 season opener.
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Mick had a career marked by injuries. Five-time champion between 1994 and 1998, the Australian came close to giving up motorcycling in 1992, when an accident in Assen caused a fracture so serious that he was in danger of having his leg amputated. Doohan, however, managed to recover and used his own experience to help Marc.
After an initial mystery, Marc confessed last June that he called Mick to find out how he felt after his return to action following his injury at the Dutch GP and understood that he was experiencing something similar.
"When you are in a difficult situation, you try to find help from somewhere," Marc told the MotoGP website's After the Flag program last year. "Alberto Puig helped me a lot, all my team helped me, all my family, my agent, but the person who experienced a similar situation was Mick Doohan. At Mugello I talked a little bit with him, but then I wrote to him after the race and said I wanted to talk on the phone," he reported.
"We talked, we were on the phone for half an hour. He was talking and I was listening. My question was: what did you feel and what were your problems in 1992 and 1993. Then he explained everything and he had exactly the same problems, the same feelings that I have now. Difficulty to understand the bike, difficulty to understand the riding style, stupid mistakes, stupid crashes... All these things I am doing," he listed. "He told me that in some races I would be fast, but in others very slow. When someone, a legend like Mick, who was an animal on the bike, suffered but managed to come back, it gives you a good confidence to keep working," he concluded.
Speaking to the Spanish newspaper AS, Mick minimized the importance of the role he plays in Marc's recovery, but stressed that he keeps in touch with the rider, also because of the link he has with Honda, the brand he has defended throughout his career. The Australian defended the Spaniard's decision to abandon the season to resort to a new surgery and acknowledged that, even if it is difficult, he trusts in the ability of the Cervera rider to return to winning.
"It's not easy, it never is. The sport doesn't expect anyone. But he has already shown that he can basically win races with one arm," Doohan commented. "Mentally, he's very strong, he's won six MotoGP titles. And you don't get that by being weak. He is one of the best of all time," he followed.
"Until the moment he decided to stop, he was among the fastest. I don't see any problem for him to come back after six months, do a few tests, regain his form, and be able to compete with whoever is in front," he opined. "He won't have done many races in this time, but he already knows how to compete. He is what, 29 years old? He's still a young man, really. If he is physically good, he can compete at the highest level. If he already won with one arm, with two arms and two legs, I think he is capable of doing it," he closed.
MotoGP is now on vacation and will resume on August 7, with the British GP at Silverstone.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.