Injury cloud over riders Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo
MotoGP season opener can be anyone's race with youngest world champion as well as two-time title winner having to fix broken bones
Marc Marquez, the youngest MotoGP world champion, and two-time title winner Jorge Lorenzo, go into Sunday's season-opener having spent more time in doctors' surgeries than on the track this winter.
Marquez made history last year, marking his rookie year with a maiden world crown at the age of 20.
But the flamboyant Spaniard suffered a broken right leg while dirt-biking just six weeks ago and admits he is nowhere near 100 per cent for the opening race under the Qatar floodlights.
I couldn't even walk. I can walk now and, if I can do that, I should be OK on the bike
Marquez's accident in his native Spain meant he missed two of the winter's three tests, having set the fastest times in the opening session in Malaysia on his all-conquering Honda.
"It was very disappointing for me to miss two tests, but the good news is that I'm getting better and the bone is mending," said Marquez, who turned 21 last month.
"I've been exercising more, so I'll have to see how I am in Qatar - I don't expect to be 100 per cent, but I will try my hardest.
"The important thing is to take some valuable points and then get up to 100 per cent by round two in Austin," Marquez said.