MOTORCYCLING: Ducati's Marquez says he needs time before getting back into title fight

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez played down expectations ahead of his return at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, saying he needs time to get back into top shape after undergoing two surgeries following a crash.

Marquez missed the French Grand Prix race as well as the entire Catalan Grand Prix weekend after fracturing his foot in a crash at Le Mans.

After having surgery on a metatarsal fracture alongside a separate shoulder operation, the 30-year-old has been given the green light to compete in the first practice session in Mugello on Friday.

"If I come back with the mentality that I can win this championship, I will be injured again," Marquez told MotoGP on Thursday. "Let’s see if in the next races I can rebuild my physical strength, and from that point, I know the speed will arrive. But, first of all, I need to feel good about my physical condition."

The Spaniard noted that his shoulder injury, which he picked up in a crash at the Indonesian Grand Prix, was his primary concern rather than his recent foot fracture.

"The foot is peanuts—the foot is nothing, I was ready to race in Catalunya," he added. "It’s more that the shoulder has been my biggest limitation these last months."

Marquez currently sits ninth in the riders' standings, 85 points behind the championship leader.

-Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters