Ninth to third, Marquez takes hard-fought final Sprint podium with Repsol Honda Team

An emotional Marc Marquez left nothing on track as he returned to the MotoGP Sprint podium for the third time in 2023, a gift to the Repsol Honda Team.

Having shown strong and consistent pace throughout the weekend, Marc Marquez headed into Q2 ready and eager to perform. A final weekend with the Repsol Honda Team spurred the #93 on to take extra risks in order to see out the 11-year relationship in the best way possible. Unfortunately, a mistake into Turn 2 on his final flying lap would end Marquez’s charge towards the front row and see him line up in ninth. With overtaking in Valencia notoriously difficult, the eight-time World Champion was left frustrated.

Launching perfectly as the lights went out, Marquez immediately made-up ground and lined up a big move into Turn 2. He’d keep the pace of leaders as he, Binder and Martin reeled in and passed early leader Maverick Viñales. With a Sprint podium in his sights, Marquez was giving no ground and set the fastest lap of the race on lap four – a 1’29.809. Marquez’s challenge would last until the final laps when catching Martin and Binder finally became impossible, crossing the line in a well-earned third place.

Arriving to the Sprint podium with thousands of fans and the members of his Repsol Honda Team below, Marquez – who has enjoyed 11 seasons with HRC – fought back the emotions to celebrate his third Sprint podium of 2023.

Sunday is set to be an emotional day for the entire Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez prepares to line up on the Honda RC213V for the final time and celebrate a relationship which has brought six MotoGP World Championships and five Triple Crowns. Every lap of the 27-lap race will have all involved giving their maximum to end the season, and an incredible era of MotoGP, in the best way possible.

Marc Marquez, 3^rd: “You can give all the presents, all the helmets, all the boots you want – but the best present is what you give on the track. That’s what today was about, giving something to the Repsol Honda Team, to HRC, to my people who have been with me across this journey. I increased the risk I was taking a step and even in the race I almost crashed many times, but today I was able to do a good start, a good first lap and make a good race. It’s important to enjoy this special moment with everyone, it was honestly hard to fight the emotions on the podium. All of my team, HRC and the fans there – it was really nice to give everyone this moment. The objective is to continue like this tomorrow, but we need to see the conditions, how we start, many things.”

Marquez fights for top ten in Qatar

Almost every lap of the 22-lap Qatar Grand Prix saw a flurry of hard passes up and down the grid, the Repsol Honda Team pairing of Marc Marquez and Joan Mir featuring throughout. Rocketing off the line as in the Sprint, Marc Marquez immediately put himself into the mix as he exited Turn One in fifth place. Defending as hard as ever, the eight-time World Champion held his own in the opening laps of the race. As the competition heated up, the #93 found himself under increasing pressure from those behind as the likes of Binder and Viñales hounded him.

Initially dropping back, Marquez rallied in the closing stages of the race to fight with championship contender Jorge Martin for tenth position. Martin’s teammate Zarco joined their battle, Marquez fortunate to avoid crashing after a big impact from the French rider in the final lap. 0.1s shy of Martin at the line, Marquez gave his all until the chequered flag and took 11th place.

Now just one more stop remains on the 2023 MotoGP World Championship calendar, the Valencia GP, November 24 – 26. The weekend will not only see the World Championship decided but will also see Marc Marquez’s current sting in the Repsol Honda Team come to a close. Everyone involved remains unwaveringly committed until the end.

Marc Marquez: 11th

“I’m happy about our weekend, it was a solid one and we were able to have a few high points when we thought we would struggle more. We spent most of the race behind Martin, I don’t think either of us were feeling entirely comfortable to be honest. But we got some more points and now we prepare to head to Valencia for what is going to be a very busy and of course emotional weekend. Like always, our focus is at 100% to keep working and fighting until the very last lap.”

Marquez fights into the points in Malaysian GP

A subdued end to a tricky weekend for the Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez returned to the points and Joan Mir suffered an unfortunate early crash after a promising start.

Threats of rain throughout the weekend would ultimately remain at simply that, the circuit staying dry during the entire weekend of premier class running. The brief ten minute Warm Up session offered the Repsol Honda Team a final chance to assess their setup before diving into the race later in the afternoon.

From 20th, Marc Marquez made another aggressive start to the race and found himself fighting for points from the first lap. As the processional Malaysian Grand Prix unfolded, Marquez briefly battled with his teammate before settling into a largely lonesome race. Avoiding risks, the #93 was able to bring his Honda RC213V home in 13th place and leave Malaysia ready for the final two races of the year.

Now the Repsol Honda Team will pack the garage and move onto the next challenge: Qatar – the penultimate GP of the year.

Marc Marquez, 13^th:

“It has been a difficult Sunday to end a complicated weekend, really it all came from Qualifying on Saturday. From 20th is always difficult and my feeling with the bike was similar to what it was in the Sprint race. Yesterday I pushed and crashed, today I managed everything and was able to at least get some points. We have another tough race coming up in Qatar where we can try and improve our situation and results. Let’s keep on going and get ready for the next one.”