Despite showing improvements in his diplopia, Marc Marquez has been formally ruled out of this weekend’s Argentina Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez will miss the Argentina Grand Prix this weekend as he recovers from the diplopia he sustained in a bad incident in Indonesia a week ago.
After suffering a concussion and a recurrence of the diplopia that forced him to miss the final two races of the 2021 season, the six-time premier class champion was forced to sit out the first Indonesian Grand Prix since 1997.
With his concussion likely to have resolved by the time he arrived at Argentina’s Termas de Rio Honda track, the only concern was whether his diplopia would clear up in time for him to start.
According to a statement made by his Honda team on Tuesday morning, the Spaniard has been judged unfit following a medical check-up with his trusted ophthalmologist Dr Sanchez Dalmau on Monday, though the expert team was pleased after noticing “favourable” signs of recovery.
With the Americas GP at the Circuit of the Americas coming up just seven days after Argentina, Marquez is racing against the clock to see if he can recuperate in time to try and win his eighth race at the circuit in nine attempts.
“The Repsol Honda Team rider has already shown very favourable improvements with his diplopia after visiting the Hospital Clínic and an examination from Dr. Sánchez Dalmau,” began Honda’s statement.
“Marc Marquez visited his ophthalmologist, Dr. Sánchez Dalmau, at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona yesterday, Monday, where he underwent his second medical check-up after the crash in Warm Up for the Indonesian GP a week ago.”
“In this new examination, Dr. Sánchez Dalmau confirmed that Marc Marquez’s diplopia shows a notable improvement and reaffirms that the progression of his vision is very favourable.”
“As happened with the last episode of diplopia, Marc Marquez will continue to carry out a conservative treatment regime with regular check-ups.”
“The Repsol Honda Team rider will not take part in the next round of the MotoGP World Championship that takes place this weekend in Argentina as he continues his recovery.”
This weekend at Termas de Rio Hondo, Repsol Honda is required to send a replacement rider, but has yet to do so.
Stefan Bradl, a test rider, is an obvious candidate, having stepped in for Marquez for the majority of 2020 and three of the four rounds he missed last year.
Marquez’s future in the sport has been called into question by the current injury crisis.
His renowned ability to manipulate the front end of a motorcycle has deteriorated, however it’s unclear how much of this is down to a lingering lack of strength and how much is due to Honda’s considerable renovation of the RC213V.
Furthermore, his proclivity for vision issues appears to be a result of a Moto2 collision a decade earlier, in which a piece of gravel injured his eye.
Dr. Dalmau’s views on his improvement this time around, on the other hand, are consistent with those of a former MotoGP doctor.
