WORDS BY ADAM PROUD | IMAGES BY RED BULL
In a season that was anticipated to be his ‘comeback’ year, things just seem to be going from bad to worse with Marc Marquez after suffering another episode of diplopia.
Diplopia, or otherwise known as double vision, has been a returning issue for the eight-time world champion throughout his career. He first suffered it during his Moto2 campaign in 2011 which cost him the title and put concerns on the longevity of his career.
The issue had not been a worry for ten years after that incident, but after a crash while training on his motocross bike towards the back end of last year, the condition returned. This forced Marquez to sit out the final rounds of the 2021 campaign after an already disruptive couple of years.
So when Marquez confirmed his vision was back to normal at the start of 2022 and after going through pre-season testing with no issues, people were expecting this year to be the return of the Marquez we saw before 2020.
Fast forward two rounds and suddenly Marquez is essentially back to square one after suffering a big high-side during the warm-up of the Indonesian Grand Prix. The crash forced him to miss the race over health concerns, but on his flight back to Spain he began to suffer problems with his vision.
A trip to the hospital confirmed that the diplopia had returned for a third time.
“It seems that I am experiencing déjà vu,” Marquez said in a Twitter post.
“During the trip back to Spain, I began to have discomfort with my vision, and we decided to visit Dr. Sanchez Dalmau, who confirmed that I have a new episode of diplopia.
“Fortunately, it is less severe than the injury I had at the end of last year. But now it’s time to rest and wait to see how the injury evolves.”
Following two years of disruption, Marquez finds himself in another tricky corner where his body needs time to heal. He will miss the Argentinian Grand Prix this weekend and will most likely miss the United States Grand Prix.
So title contention for the Spaniard looks to be out of the question this year and it looks like it will be another year of what could’ve been for the six-time world champion.
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