A lot of fanfare for a very modest result – just note the number of cameras when he left the box. This weekend there were sensational performances by various other drivers, but “thanks” to the Marquez comeback, some of them were almost unnoticed

Very mixed impressions from the returnee’s 1st GP weekend

From a purely sporting point of view, the hype about Marc Marquez’s comeback bears no relation to his achievements in the race. The faxes that he made in the box and when getting on his bike seemed rather confusing to many viewers. It’s actually easy, he’s fit and drives, or he’s not enough, and he should leave the Repsol Honda to Stefan Bradl. A very good keyword because the German achieved exactly the same placement as the Spaniard’s substitute driver in Portugal in mid-November. However, in his 7th place, he had not benefited from the failures of drivers in front of him and was only a good 5 seconds behind 4th place. Marquez, on the other hand, would not have made it through 10th place on his own without the falls in front of him.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) – the Spaniard in the chase role on the hunt for his form. His comeback left a very mixed impression on most observers. When it comes to the result achieved, a few critical words are not out of place.

On the subject of the bravery of the returnees
Some people would immediately say how bravely Marc struggled to make his comeback. Against this background, what about Pol Espargaró or Takaaki Nakagami, for example? The two had previously survived violent falls and every bone must have hurt, not just the right arm! Last year, Sam Lowes started with a broken bone in his hand, to name another comparison. It was also nowhere to be read that Marquez had already been forced to return to Portugal, of all places. If he is fit, he should drive in Jerez and if not, please not again with the same kind of acting as in Portimão. At least that is the opinion of the majority of our correspondence on the subject.

Pol Espargaró (Repsol Honda) – the Catalan was not rewarded for his bravery after a violent crash on Saturday after everything hurt him. Due to a defect in the rear brake, he had to give up the race after a few laps and could not prove that he might have had a chance for the top ten even from far behind.

In the shadow of the return of Marquez – the Aprilia and KTM sensation

While Marc Marquez only fought for the first one and a half laps at the front, Aleix Espargaró and Brad Binder had crossed the finish line shortly before in positions 8 and 9. After that, the show of the 6-time world champion was actually over. The Repsol Honda rider had obviously completely miscalculated behind Joan Mir and drove him fully into the rear wheel, almost flying off himself. Fortunately, nothing happened, but Marquez lost a few places as a result. But anyone who expected to fight back was bitterly disappointed. Rather, there was now the demonstration by Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaró. One on the KTM, which was depicted as a complete crutch until shortly before, and the other as a classic underdog on the Gresini Aprilia.

Aleix Espargaró in front of Lorenzo Savadori – the dissimilar Aprilia duo. The front of the two is absolutely world class and the back is on the way to becoming one of the best. Both drove for their lives, but the majority were practically only interested in Marc Marquez.

What would Fausto Gresini have said about it?
We sometimes asked ourselves this question at the first double race of the season in Losail. Many observers found the minute’s silence in memory of the deceased team boss very emotional and touching. Nevertheless, during the race we couldn’t shake the impression that he would have preferred the former Grand Prix driver to pay more attention to the performance of his driver Aleix Espargaró. Just like Brad Binder, the Catalan never gave the mega-champion Marquez a chance and showed him his rear wheel early on. Against this background, it is very sad that Fausto is no longer there and can confirm himself that we were absolutely right. It wasn’t really fair how much the athletic performance of such athletes was almost completely lost just because someone else comes back and comes in 7th behind them.

Brad Binder (KTM) in front of Marc Marquez (Honda), Francesco Bagnaia and Luca Marini (beide Ducati). In the previous year still a MotoGP apprentice, but already winner in Brno in the 3rd race of the season. A year later, he demoted the 2019 world champion to an extra.

What’s next?
In addition to the exaggerated hype regarding the comeback of Marc Marquez, the second act is already waiting for the fans. Shortly after the Portuguese GP, it was announced that he would allegedly not be allowed to train on the motorcycle until the Grand Prix in Jerez. So it is again clear that they want to stamp him as an underdog in advance in the second race. The fans should then cheer as soon as he should be one of the fastest on one of his favorite tracks. After even his brother Alex had stated on record that Marc had gotten faster and faster in the race, one wonders: Was the whole theater before the race with the public question of whether he would get through it just pure acting? Anyway, many fans would love to see the real racing driver Marquez again. Someone who unconditionally drives for victory and does not primarily lament publicly about his possible perseverance and handicap, for which he is ultimately paid princely.

Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda box – still a very controversial person. Nobody knows exactly how intensively he had prepared in Portimão before his return. The fact that he comes back and claims that he may only manage a few laps in the race made people sit up and take notice on Saturday. In the end, however, he finished the race as if it were the easiest in the world. There was no sign of an alleged handicap.

The fourth round of the World Cup in Jerez de la Frontera

After Mick Doohan, the third corner in Jerez was also a fateful place for Marc Marquez. No courageous passage like the sometimes blindly driven corners of the Autodromo do Algarve or the infamous Cork-Screw from Laguna Seca. Actually a left turn, like there are many, but it ended the career of the 5-time series world champion from Australia in the 500 cc class. However, the Catalan has to hide all of this, as well as his own crash last year. Below are the MotoGP statistics for the Circuito de Jerez. Mick Doohan won four times before his horrific crash in training for the 1999 race and Marquez was three times victorious. Until he reaches the 7 triumphs of Valentino Rossi he has to hurry up a lot.

In italics, the winners of the two-stroke era with 500cc in the premier class, 250cc before the Moto2 and 125cc up to 2011.
The Swiss WorldSSP 600 pilot Randy Krummenacher photographed in front of us in Jerez in the infamous Turn 3. Here Marc Marquez will only retract carefully the first few times as shown in the picture in the warm-up, then he will definitely go “full throttle” as always.

An earlier prime example of a sensational comeback

To put the heroic return of Marc Marquez into perspective, let’s recall a man who was one of the best WorldSBK drivers in the early 1990s. The Italian Giancarlo Falappa rode for Ducati in their works team in 1990 after winning three times on Bimota the year before. According to poorly oriented sources, the Italian allegedly didn’t get a particularly good start to the season. However, this is not entirely true, after 2 rounds he was third in the world championship. In any case, things didn’t just go smoothly after that, and he traveled to Spielberg for the 7th of 13 rounds. Falappa had an almost fatal accident on his birthday, of all places, during qualifying training at the Österreichring (now the Red Bull Ring). It happened in a curve that was driven through at over 250 kph when he had to avoid a slower driver. At that time the guardrails were placed too close, and he barely survived the terrible crash.

At the beginning of the golden 90s of WorldSBK one of the great riders of his time – Giancarlo Falappa on the Ducati. He was an absolute darling of the public and one of the most fearless drivers in the near-series World Championship.

The terrible injuries were life-threatening
The “Lion of Jesi” as his compatriots called him, suffered 27 broken bones. The rupture of a femoral artery resulted in very high blood loss and Giancarlo was in a coma for twelve days. He returned to the 1991 season against the advice of his doctors and the pleading of his family. He could no longer lift his left arm properly. In addition, he was severely handicapped on his left leg after thirteen broken bones, as he had not been able to bend it well since the accident. It wasn’t until the 10th lap in Germany at the Hockenheimring that he celebrated his first podium after his comeback. In the following year, the northern Italian delivered the final confirmation that he can still do it. After three podium places, the 6th round went to Spielberg. Here, of all places, where he had almost lost his life two years earlier, this exceptional driver drove to victory in both races. This as an earlier prime example of a sensational comeback of an undisputedly badly handicapped returnee of the time. Incidentally, it should have happened without any theatrical appearance, as a contemporary witness credibly assured us.

Giancarlo Falappa, called the Lion of Jesi – the Italian was tough and if you want to read more about his active years, you can take a look at our richly illustrated history of the earlier years of the WorldSBK in detail.

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