Despite his injury clearance, Marc Marquez won’t race MotoGP Sunday

By Jul 25, 2020, 9:45 AM EDT
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Defending series champion Marc Marquez won’t race with an injury in Sunday’s second grand prix of the season at Jerez after being cleared with a fractured right arm.

Marquez was injured after crashing with four laps remaining in Sunday’s season opener. He underwent successful surgery Tuesday in Barcelona, and doctors said there was no nerve damage. He was cleared by MotoGP medical staff upon returning Thursday to the Circuit de Jerez.

But after testing himself on the No. 93 bike during practice Saturday morning, Marc Marquez returned immediately to the garage after making a lap in qualifying Saturday afternoon.

MOTOGP ON NBC: How to watch the 2020 season

Marquez said he had at least to take a shot at testing whether he could race Sunday in the Andalucia Grand Prix.

“When you have a passion for something, you try,” he said in an interview after qualifying (watch the video above). “Today I will sleep well because I tried. It wasn’t possible, but what I did was only follow my body. My body said you must try. This was the plan.”

Marquez said he initially felt good on the bike during the morning practice, but his right elbow began acting up late in the session and again as soon as he began in qualifying. He speculated the warm weather might have caused inflammation.

The loss of strength in his arm “becomes dangerous. My body in that moment (said), ‘Stop.’ I promised to Honda if I feel unsafe, I will stop, and that’s what I did.

“I want to say thanks to all doctors, officials, team, we tried, and they put in a lot of hard work.”

Marquez said he intends to race in the Aug. 9 grand prix at the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic.

“I want to fight for a championship,” he said. “Now the main priority is try to be better for physical condition. I will start working hard in the next hour for Brno. I won’t be 100 percent, but I’ll try to fight on the bike and enjoy my passion on the bike.”

Repsol Honda Team manager Alberto Puig said the team decided it was best for Marquez to stop after it became too painful.

“When you have an injury and the body says that’s it, that’s it,” Puig said (watch the interview below). “Real champions always try, and this is what he did. The courage he showed was unbelievable. We still have 11 races to go and for sure aren’t going to give up. Marc will recover and the team will be there for him.”

Marquez had yet to miss a race in MotoGP’s premier division since entering the series in 2013 and winning six of the past seven championships.

Saturday’s practcie and qualifying sessions at Jerez were eventful for the Honda factory team as Alex Marquez, Marc’s younger brother, crashed during qualifying. Though he was holding his right arm, Alex Marquez avoided serious injury.

In Sunday’s race at Jerez (7:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN), Fabio Quartararo will start on the pole for the second consecutive week after becoming the first Frenchman in more than 20 years to win in MotoGP’s premier division last week. Maverick Vinales set the fast time, but it was wiped out for exceeding track limits.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).