Marc Marquez declared fit to ride following hospital visit

The six-time MotoGP world champion tumbled off his RC213V at Jerez’s Turn 7 left-hander in the latter stages of this morning’s session.

Marquez was able to walk away from the accident but went to the circuit’s medical centre for further checks, which revealed he’s escaped serious injury and suffered just a cervical contusion. As a precaution, Marquez went to hospital in Jerez for an MRI to check his condition.

A brief statement from Honda read: “To double check his condition after the Turn 7 fall, Marc Marquez is heading to hospital for further checks.

“These are precautionary and Marquez is not experiencing any pain or discomfort.”

MotoGP doctor Angel Charte added when speaking to Spain’s DAZN: “Marc is perfectly fine, but I thought it would be good to do a control CT scan and be more calm.

“He has a large cervical contusion and at the level of his back, it does not cost us anything to do a CT scan.

“I hope he is in the afternoon session. I insist, it is only a controlled CT scan, nothing more.”

Honda has confirmed Marquez will return to action this afternoon for the 30-minute FP4 session before taking part in the first 15-minute qualifying segment after ending FP3 12th.

"After his check, Marc Marquez has been declared fit for the remainder  of the Spanish GP," Honda updated on Twitter.

Marquez returned to MotoGP last time out in Portugal following a nine-month injury layoff caused by a career-threatening right arm break at Jerez last July.

Coming through Q1 in Portugal, Marquez went on to qualify sixth and finished the race seventh – securing Honda’s best result of the season so far.

Marquez says he has “no clear target” for the Jerez weekend, but was conservative during Friday’s FP2 in order to preserve his energy for the race after struggling with a lack of power in the muscles of his right arm.

He also spoke about riding through the Turn 3 where he had his crash nine months ago, noting it didn’t play on his mind.