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MM given the green light for Portimao

WOOHOO!

I can't think of someone so successful having such an extended break before. The amount of attention he will be receiving will be HUGE. All eyes will be on Marquez and whilst I suspect the practice and qualifying sessions will be taken tentatively, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest that once those lights go out, any dust will soon be shaken off and his racer instinct to win will be hard to contain.

On the other hand I certainly wouldn't hold anything against him if he finishes outside of the top 10. I suspect that from a development perspective, the Honda may have been taken in a direction he is not expecting and could be significantly different to when he last rode it. That could require much more than just a race weekend to re-calibrate the new hardware and software to his liking?
 
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The Burning Barber said:
WOOHOO!

I can't think of someone so successful having such an extended break before. The amount of attention he will be receiving will be HUGE. All eyes will be on Marquez and whilst I suspect the practice and qualifying sessions will be taken tentatively, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest that once those lights go out, any dust will soon be shaken off and his racer instinct to win will be hard to contain.

On the other hand I certainly wouldn't hold anything against him if he finishes outside of the top 10. I suspect that from a development perspective, the Honda may have been taken in a direction he is not expecting and could be significantly different to when he last rode it. That could require much more than just a race weekend to re-calibrate the new hardware and software to his liking?
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He jumped on the bike as a rookie and was immediately fast. The bike won't be an issue.
 
Be interesting to see how he goes. I'm pretty pumped for it. I think a top 10 quali and a top 5 finish would be an excellent result. Not convinced that he will be up to speed that quickly but we will know soon enough.
 
p4p1 said:
Be interesting to see how he goes. I'm pretty pumped for it. I think a top 10 quali and a top 5 finish would be an excellent result. Not convinced that he will be up to speed that quickly but we will know soon enough.
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I think a top 5 would be a brilliant result. He's hardly ridden a go bike since 2019. Missed off season and testing with his shoulder operation, then the accident at race one last year.

No pressure with not many expecting a win from him, probably bodes him well. Also he has never ridden the track as far as I know.

He does generate hype, all eyes will be in him and is known to psyche out riders, so won't be surprised myself if he has one lap pace and qualifies straight to Q2.

I wish him a safe race, and won't be too long until he's back at pointy end. Certainly still a contender for the title.
 
Barbedwirebikerr said:
I think a top 5 would be a brilliant result. He's hardly ridden a go bike since 2019. Missed off season and testing with his shoulder operation, then the accident at race one last year.

No pressure with not many expecting a win from him, probably bodes him well. Also he has never ridden the track as far as I know.

He does generate hype, all eyes will be in him and is known to psyche out riders, so won't be surprised myself if he has one lap pace and qualifies straight to Q2.

I wish him a safe race, and won't be too long until he's back at pointy end. Certainly still a contender for the title.
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This is it! I wish for him first and foremost, a safe weekend and to be gradual, which somehow, I think he will.
 
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Barbedwirebikerr said:
He does generate hype, all eyes will be in him and is known to psyche out riders, so won't be surprised myself if he has one lap pace and qualifies straight to Q2.
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He definitely does that, the Valeban watches him in hope he will crash.... but they still watch him. The rest of us watch him because you can't help but marvel at what he is able to do on a motorcycle. Whether he dominates the championship by winning the title handily or no the races IMO are better for having him. People that say his domination makes it boring are wrong, I don't care about a close or exciting championship I just want to see great races.
 
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I wouldn't bet against Marquez at this point. I'm not expecting anything major out of him, but then again the kid does have the ability to surprise when you think it's not possible. If he comes back like he never was gone, I think some of the other guys are going to be in a panic.

I do think we won't have a better idea of where he is till FP3 though.
 
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JPSLotus said:
I wouldn't bet against Marquez at this point. I'm not expecting anything major out of him, but then again the kid does have the ability to surprise when you think it's not possible. If he comes back like he never was gone, I think some of the other guys are going to be in a panic.

I do think we won't have a better idea of where he is till FP3 though.
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All depends on his physical condition. There were reports he was quite fatigued after his recent efforts on the Honda pseudo track bike.

He is just as big a threat for the title if not more so if he rides within himself and settles for places when appropriate as he did with the shoulder injury. He was still mostly capable of finishing second if he didn't finish first as Puig has said recently in something quoted on crashnet.

He absolutely cannot re-fracture the humerus though, this would possibly have consequences for the rest of his life and not just his racing career, so the days of testing the limits by crashing in practice are presumably over. If he gets in the zone in the race who knows though, this is a guy who could get to second from off the track 12 months ago, I think top 5 is not beyond him if his physical condition lasts race distance. I agree looking anything like being competitive in his first race would have many of the contenders looking over their shoulders.
 
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One of my Moto friends is betting he won’t finish the race. I have to believe that MM has accepted the wake up call resulting from the accident and will take steps to moderate the approach, accumulating good finishes. Like he did one other time.....
Until he quit moderating. We’ll see which MM comes back at this next race.
 
michaelm said:
All depends on his physical condition. There were reports he was quite fatigued after his recent efforts on the Honda pseudo track bike.

He is just as big a threat for the title if not more so if he rides within himself and settles for places when appropriate as he did with the shoulder injury. He was still mostly capable of finishing second if he didn't finish first as Puig has said recently in something quoted on crashnet.

He absolutely cannot re-fracture the humerus though, this would possibly have consequences for the rest of his life and not just his racing career, so the days of testing the limits by crashing in practice are presumably over. If he gets in the zone in the race who knows though, this is a guy who could get to second from off the track 12 months ago, I think top 5 is not beyond him if his physical condition lasts race distance. I agree looking anything like being competitive in his first race would have many of the contenders looking over their shoulders.
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Do you know of anything medical device or construct wise that could be used to absorb energy in that area of his arm if he goes down?
 
JPSLotus said:
Do you know of anything medical device or construct wise that could be used to absorb energy in that area of his arm if he goes down?
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Not really, don’t know enough about bike racing accoutrements or orthopaedic surgery; misfit who sounds very much as though he is an orthopaedic surgeon might. He might also know whether they are likely to eventually remove the fixation device. which may itself increase his risk of re-fracture. If they do it will be off season to allow healing afterwards.
 
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JPSLotus said:
Do you know of anything medical device or construct wise that could be used to absorb energy in that area of his arm if he goes down?
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I was thinking of same thing and concluded as minimum he's probably got a modified air suit that will encapsulate his upper arm much further than a standard suit does. From what I have seen, they mainly look to have shoulder protection for that portion of the body.
 
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michaelm said:
Not really, don’t know enough about bike racing accoutrements or orthopaedic surgery; misfit who sounds very much as though he is an orthopaedic surgeon might. He might also know whether they are likely to eventually remove the fixation device. which may itself increase his risk of re-fracture. If they do it will be off season to allow healing afterwards.
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I'm not an orthopaedic surgeon although as part of my training, I worked with them. Basic principles remain since the human body doesn't change. Same for hardware and basic principles of fixation/healing etc. So I may seem more in the know than I really am.

I don't think there's any device as was asked about. Otherwise, there would have already been a solution being used by the riders on a regular basis.
 
misfit said:
I'm not an orthopaedic surgeon although as part of my training, I worked with them. Basic principles remain since the human body doesn't change. Same for hardware and basic principles of fixation/healing etc. So I may seem more in the know than I really am.

I don't think there's any device as was asked about. Otherwise, there would have already been a solution being used by the riders on a regular basis.
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As I said I don’t know, but on general principles I thought the same as you, if there was something which would help while not impeding riding it would already be in use, including by him when he was riding the special edition Honda road super bike recently. An airbag device or extension as others have speculated about was the only thing which occurred to me on general principles.

What you said and predicted about the method of fixation and early return was impressive, you would seem to have better knowledge than MM’s own initial doctors.
 
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I dont think he will start the race unless he knows he can finish it. That said has Honda brought a bike for Bradl?
 
It's thrilling to see MM, the fastest of the Hondas straight out of the blocks after almost a year off due to prolonged injury layoff. The speed is definitely still there. His stamina over the race weekend is still in question but we know that it's only a matter of time.
 

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