Repsol Honda Team duo soldier on despite Sepang hardships
Nov 11, 2023
Sepang [Malaysia], November 11 : A complicated Q1 locked both Repsol Honda Team riders into a race of recovery, from the 16th and 20th respectively Joan Mir and Marc Marquez made early progress but had their march forward halted by crashes.
On Saturday in Sepang was another day of complications for the Repsol Honda Team, with both Marc Marquez and Joan Mir forging ahead despite the hardships. Having to contest Q1, it was a busy start to the day for the pair of Honda RC213V riders who worked on their final setup changes in the morning.
Mir was able to put in a respectable time, his 1'58.440 would have been good enough to contest the front row here in 2022. Marquez suffered a fall on his final flying lap and took the 20th position on the grid.
Immediately shooting forward, the #93 made up seven places on the first lap of the Sprint. Hungry for more, he attempted to keep his pace up but a small crash at Turn 14 ended his charge. With the spirit of a champion, Marquez remounted and finished the 10-lap Sprint to gather as much information as possible for Sunday's Grand Prix.
Mir yet again made positive progress when the Sprint began and advanced several positions in the opening corners. Settling into his rhythm, he was able to make steady progress forward in the following laps. Coming off at Turn 15 just a lap after his teammate, the #36 jumped to his feet, picked up his Repsol Honda Team RC213V and rejoined to finish the Sprint.
The Repsol Honda Team will be aiming for better fortunes when the lights go out on the 20-lap Grand Prix at 15:00 Local Time on Sunday.
"This is a difficult weekend, our pace has not been too bad but we made a big mistake during Qualifying practice and starting down in 20th is a big battle. In the Sprint race, I started really well in the first two laps and made up a lot of positions, but when you push like this you overheat the tyres and I lost the front. We got back up and finished the race, getting the information for the team which is necessary for tomorrow. Finishing the 21st or 15th in the Sprint doesn't really change much. We go again tomorrow," said Honda rider Marc Marquez.
"An intense day with the conditions and what we had to do. I was able to keep improving my feeling throughout the day and our times weren't too bad as we went into Q1. If we did this time last year we would have been on the front row I think! But we still need to find more speed in Qualifying. Again, starting where we did made the race a bit complicated and falling at the last corner was not ideal. We got back on and finished the race to get as much information as possible for Sunday," said Honda rider Joan Mir.
