“A true force of nature” and “a terminator,” according to his physiotherapist, Paolo Castelli –Human Tecar specialist and osteopath; while also “a thoroughly nice person.” We’re talking MotoGP Championship leader Marc Márquez, who moved up 52 points in the title race with his fourth victory of the season, at the Aragon Grand Prix on Sunday, September 25 – just four more races to go (Valentino Rossi is no. 2 at the moment, followed by Jorge Lorenzo).
Castelli has not only known el Cabroncito since the latter first joined the World Championship, aged 16, but ever since then, has been using the Human Tecar technology and MO on both Marc and his younger brother, Álex Márquez.
Last Sunday, the Márquez brothers hit the jackpot: not only did Marc win the Spanish Grand Prix; the ‘baby’ of the family ran a fantastic race in his category, coming in second. Marc, in fact, declared that, though very happy with his own result, “the most thrilling and very special moment today for me was when my brother Álex got his first podium in Moto2.”
A thoroughly nice person indeed, this endearing ‘terminator’ with the infectious smile and aggressive racing style.
We asked Paolo Castelli – himself not short on popstar glamor – how he works on the Márquez brothers as on the other motorbike champions he assists. Forces of nature they may be, yet even these superheroes on wheels need to deal with pain: during training and races, their backs take all the strain of their riding posture and a lot of weight is placed on the spine, neck and shoulders. Tackling these issues as rapidly as possible can make or break a race – hence the effectiveness of a therapy like Human Tecar, which can adapt its treatment protocol to a given athlete’s specific conditions and can be repeated several times in a given day: the 24 hours just before a competition are crucial for a motorcyclist’s preparation, so that the method’s versatility and swiftness can make all the difference.
Castelli confirms the treatment “changes day by day. Thursdays, we take stock of the situation, depending on what particular training sessions they’ve come from; I treat them with Human Tecar therapy so they can relax as deeply as possible, so they sleep better at night and recharge. Friday, we consider various factors and act accordingly; generally speaking, we loosen them up. Sunday morning is the time to finesse our work, based on their sensations during warm-up. We work on all of these details as they come to our attention, and on other stuff that depends on what the circuit is like, e.g. whether it features more right-hand or left-hand bends and whether it’s dry or wet.”
