Marquez undergoes surgery after crash, will miss Argentina GP
Honda MotoGP star Marc Marquez will miss this weekend's Argentina Grand Prix after undergoing surgery to fix the fracture he suffered in a violent crash with Miguel Oliveira at Portimao.
Photo by: Oriol Puigdemont
In a statement released on Monday morning, Honda revealed that Marquez had broken the first metacarpal of the thumb of his right hand following his collision with Oliveira in the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The fracture was discovered when Marquez returned to his home country of Spain and it was immediately operated upon at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid by a team led by Dr. Ignacio Roger de Ona.
As part of the surgery, the fracture was reduced and fixed internally with the use of two screws.
Honda said the surgery passed without incident, but stated that he won't be fit to take part in the second round of the season at Termas de Rio Hondo on April 2.
No timeline was provided as to when Marquez will be able to return to racing again.
It means that Marquez will not be able to complete a full MotoGP campaign without injury yet again, with 2019 - the year he won his sixth premier-class title - the last time he did not miss a single race all season.
"Marc Marquez and the Repsol Honda Team have elected for the eight-time World Champion to miss the next round of the World Championship to fully focus on recovery and arrive at the forthcoming rounds in the best possible condition," the statement read.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marquez was fighting for a podium position in the opening laps at Portimao when he locked up under braking going into Turn 3, hitting the Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin before slamming into the side of Oliveira's RNF Aprilia.
The incident immediately put Marquez and Oliveira out of the race, while Martin was able to continue after dropping outside the top 10.
The stewards deemed Marquez responsible for the incident and handed him a double long lap penalty for Argentina.
With Marquez unable to race in South America this weekend, it is expected that his penalty will not be carried forward to the next round.
Some in the paddock felt that the Spaniard got away lightly for causing the incident, with factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro saying that he felt Marquez deserved a one-race ban for the incident.
Honda won't replace Marquez in Argentina, meaning Joan Mir will be to sole represenative for the factory squad.
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