All eyes were on the Repsol Honda garage today as Marc Marquez made his long-awaited return to MotoGP at the Portimao track.

Partnering Pol Espargaro for the first time, Marquez was back in action 265 days after his last appearance on the RC213V. After multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation on his right arm the eight-time World Champion initially seemed to take a calm approach to his first session back, completing 14 laps across the 45-minutes, before ultimately ending the morning practice third in the standings - the beaming smile clear for all to see. 

Pleased with his physical condition and able to ride without restriction, Marquez was eager to continue working in the afternoon session, with FP2 also providing the opportunity for a time attack. A signature Marquez save failing to thwart his progress, the Catalan ended the session sixth, 0.473s off Pecco Bagnaia’s fastest effort, and top Honda overall. The only question remaining, how the arm’s stamina will hold up over the coming days.  

“It was a great day, a great feeling to be back in MotoGP” Marquez explained from Portugal. “On the first run the track was not so good but immediately I felt good on the bike. I felt better in the morning because the arm was fresh, it was rested, and I had good power. I struggled a little bit more to warm up the arm in the afternoon and I started to feel already that the arm was a little bit more tired, but apart from that we're in a better situation than what we expect before the weekend. I am riding the bike, following my own way and the lap times are coming well. The main question for me is still how the arm will react over the weekend and how I will get up tomorrow - if the stress of the muscles will be more, I will have less power and then I will need to change a little bit the riding style. The circuit is quite demanding about physical condition so it's something that we need to be very careful about but tomorrow, we will see.

“I was very nervous ahead of FP1” he continued. “The track condition, with some wet parts, was really difficult to ride the bike but, honestly speaking, the most difficult thing was the braking points. Every time I brake I say, 'I will not turn, I will not turn, I will not turn,' and then the bike stopped. I brake late because I know that everybody's braking there but I don't feel exactly that I need to brake there, but step by step, with more laps, I will understand. 

“I’m still riding with Stefan's setup from last year here, tomorrow we will do a few changes, but still I don't understand the way. I know what they have so now it's just time to ride. The most important thing will be the arm tomorrow. The speed is there, this is something that makes me happy and more comfortable, but the arm is a question of time, laps, I know that I will struggle more tomorrow, I know that during all the race I will be struggling a lot, but for Jerez it will be better, and for Le Mans it will be better and this is the main target.

“This morning I felt good, then this afternoon the feeling was not so good on the bike but then when I got in the box and I saw that I was P6 it was a great surprise. On the last lap I did many mistakes and I expected to be out of Q2, because the feeling was no good and I felt slow, but the speed is there.

“The last lap was a little bit crazy. It’s true that with a new tyre I'm struggling more than the used. With a used tyre, the bike becomes softer, the lap times are slower and then I feel much more comfortable, but with the new tyres, everything is more stiff, and specifically on that corner - from six to seven - on change of direction, my head say 'now it's time to go in on turn seven', but the body didn't follow what I want, and then I just slide a little bit, but I didn't give up the lap. Of course, with more laps on the track I will improve. Everything will depend about my physical condition because today was the first day, everything was fresh, Tomorrow - I know because I already feel - I will be more tired and the muscles will struggle a little bit more but it’s great to be back, we have worked very hard for this moment and it’s great to achieve it.”