Medics responsible for the progress of Marc Marquez’ recovery after shoulder surgery had all the wheels removed from his motorbikes so he was unable to ride before he was ready.

Marquez still isn’t 100 per cent after an operation to fix his problematic joint but intensive work and physio means he will be able to ride at Sepang later this week.

“There are days when he is very patient, especially in the first phase of the recovery process. Then, little by little, when the sling came off he was more anxious. ‘I’ve had the sling removed, I can do it!’ and I would tell him ‘No, you can’t do it, do not move your shoulder,’” said physio Carlos Garcia.

“There it was necessary to stop him a little bit because if it were up to him, on January 7 he would have been on a bike. He only wants to be on a bike.

“There were orders for all the bikes to be dismantled. When we went to the gym and we passed by some bikes and he climbed onto one, assumed the riding position and made noises as if he were on track. That’s how much he wants to get on a bike again.”