What Marquez learned on first day back from pivotal surgery
Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says that he felt no repeat of the nerve issue that affected his previous appearances in 2026, following surgery that was aimed at addressing it.
Marquez has returned to competition at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello after a lay-off triggered by a foot injury at Le Mans - but more importantly featured surgical intervention on his right shoulder, to remove two screws and a bone fragment.
The hope was that this would bring him closer to his performance from last year, with Marquez having looked limited at the start of this current campaign, something he eventually traced to a nerve being affected while he was in the riding position - thus denying him full control over his riding.
Marquez, who finished Friday in sixth place, two tenths off first, said that the early signs at Mugello were positive.
"For me the most important today was to try to understand how the nerve was working. It was very important that I didn't feel any numbness - numbness in the hands, numbness in the fingers and numbness in the elbows," he said.
"At the moment it’s working well - so I’m super happy because it was the main target of the surgery.
"Of course, when now the nerve starts to work in another way, a normal way, we start to work with other muscles. So I have other pains, I have another feeling on the bike, but step by step let’s see if we can improve- I will not say this weekend, next races.
"This weekend, theoretically I have to be just worse, worse and worse because I will be more tired. For that reason today I was super calm in FP1 and practice - and I just pushed one lap to try to be in Q2."
Marquez said that he does not yet feel the confidence to push for any sustained number of laps - and isn't convinced he has the performance for the top five over a race distance.
"Honestly speaking, I was thinking that I would feel better on the bike. But still on the right corners, on the changes of direction, I’m losing a lot of time.
"It’s true that for one lap I can do it, but for the race distance - at the moment I’m half a second slower than the top riders. And yeah, still I don’t feel well [enough] to push on the limit."
Marquez trails championship leader Marco Bezzecchi by 85 points, and normally Mugello should present a significant opportunity to start closing the gap - especially as the Ducatis, which Pecco Bagnaia said Mugello is "perfectly suited" to, collectively look very strong.
But Marquez doesn't see it that way.
On whether the sprint or the main race would be harder for him, and whether the full-push battle of the sprint would be too intense, he said: "I don’t care. If it’s more intense, I will reduce my speed.
"So I don’t care, and I’m very honest because I would like to say 'yeah, I will try to take maximum points, to try to be there in the championship'. But at the moment, I’m here to try to rebuild my right arm to continue my future. I don’t have another target."
