MotoGP, Dr. Costa: “Marquez wouldn’t have missed the season with me”

There is still uncertainty as to whether Marc Marquez will be ready to take part in the season-opener at Losail on 28 March. We’ll find out next week, but in the meantime we’ve spoken to Doctor Claudio Costa, the man who founded motorcycle racing’s Clinica Mobile and who has helped so many riders make history along the way.

What would you say about the Marquez case?

"I start by saying that I haven’t seen the details and can only speak from experience. No rider has ever missed a season in the 50 years of the Clinica Mobile. Marquez's last surgery saw the insertion of a plate with a transplant from the iliac crest and then there was an infection of the bone known as osteomyelitis. But you can’t leave osteomyelitis with a plate, so this means it was under control, and it doesn’t prevent the natural bone healing process. I’d foresee a recovery time of six months, or maybe four if one is very lucky”.

Could all this have been avoided?

"A fractured humerus is not easy to fix. I definitely wouldn’t have let him race at Jerez the week after. I would have told him: “Marc, I can save your shoulder, I’ll put in a plate and then see you in three months at Misano”. If he’d wanted to get back on track at all costs, I’d have put in a nail with two screws. This wasn’t done, and then they carried out another surgery. Considering the delay in healing, I wouldn’t have waited until December to operate, but would have done it earlier".

Would you have acted in the same way right from the outset?

"I’d have done what I always do, allowing myself be guided by the rider’s wishes. If the rider said to me: “I want to race next week”, I would have put in big semi-elastic nail. But if he preferred not to damage the injured shoulder, I’d have used a plate and not let him race until Misano. A humerus takes three months to heal with a plate. With a nail it doesn’t heal in a week, but it would have held. Then the rider would have been helped by their own strength of will, the fuel that drives the energy inside the human body and that has riders doing the things we’ve seen them doing, miracles”.

Might we see Marc in Qatar?

"I can only guess. There is a possiility this miracle might happen, but I believe that with an injury like his, perhaps it will take a little longer”.

And will he be the same Martian when he returns?

"From a physical point of view, we have to hope he regains the strength in his arm. Then, psychologically speaking, he’ll be stronger than ever. Adversity gives you this incentive, as we saw with Doohan, this desire to be even more successful. And if his body were to fail to heal completely, he would be able to overcome that setback with his strength of will. So I think we’ll see a strong Marquez. As he himself said in reference to me in 2013: ‘He’s a crazy doctor, but he had me win the title”.

Do you appreciate this description?

"I like it, because normality is something that bores me. While madness is given by god, as the ancient greeks would say”.

Do you have a favourite anecdote?

"I have so many and am pleased to have them. Symbolically, there’s one that sums it all up: my history with Mick Doohan. A story of love, great risk and danger. We challenged something that cannot be challenged, that kept me awake at night. Doohan's greatness lies in the fact that he didn’t ask me to heal me, but only to let him race. We’ve remained close. Outside of the motorcycle world, I was in a similar situation with Alex Zanardi".

In addition to Doohan, which other riders do you hold in your heart?

"I can’t answer that, it’s like asking a mother to admit who her favourite child is”.

Translated by Heather Watson

Mick Doohan: the rise from hell to heaven