Conservative efforts in Japanese GP Sprint for the Repsol Honda Team

MotoGP 2023 Round 14, Grand Prix of Japan

Japan: Marc Marquez and Joan Mir took solid seventh and 13th place finishes in a tense Sprint Race in Motegi as they prepare for Sunday’s main event.

Predicted rain stayed well away as only sporadic dark clouds floated overhead as Japan continued to experience an extend period of warm weather. Free Practice 2 saw both Repsol Honda Team machines work on their final adjustments before the action-packed part of the day.

Marc Marquez achieved his first target of the day as a 1’43.997 saw him move through Q1 as the fastest rider. From here he and the team elected a two-run strategy in Q2, earning seventh on the grid as Marquez improved his time by another tenth. From the head of the third row, Marquez made a strong start to gain positions and move in front of Bezzecchi in the opening corners of the 12-lap Sprint. The majority of the race would see the #93 defending from both Bezzecchi and Zarco, Marquez having a especially fierce battle with the young Italian during the middle of the race. Crossing the line in seventh, Marquez did well to hold off his pursuers behind while avoiding any unnecessary risks after an intense start to the race.

After a Friday full of potential, Joan Mir spent the morning assessing several final items and settings before settling on the direction to follow for the rest of the weekend. Times were tight in Q1 and 0.101s was all that split the #36 from a transfer spot, finishing in fifth and stating both races in 15th. Fast as the lights went out, Mir immediately made up a handful of places as the Sprint began. Eventually taking 13th at the line, Mir was left searching for more after being unable to recreate his speed and overall feeling from earlier in the day.

Sunday will feature the main event of the weekend in Motegi: The Japanese Grand Prix. Set to run over 24 laps and starting at 15:00 Local Time.

Marc Marquez (Seventh)

“I think the highlight of our day was jumping from Q1 to Q2 and starting on the third row was a good objective. Seventh position is a solid day, not the best but I tried hard to follow the leading group because that’s my character. The tyres started to drop towards the end, and I had to go more at my normal pace after risking a lot at the start. It looks like the top ten will be the objective for tomorrow again. There are a few things to check and of course we keep trying and working for more.”

Joan Mir (13th)

“We were hoping for more today because during Qualifying I felt pretty good, there was a chance to go to Q2 but it didn’t really line up. I am quite disappointed with how the race went overall, it the Sprint it just didn’t feel the same and we weren’t able to match the lap times. Certainly, we need to work to understand this so we can deliver on our potential and our expectations. Tonight we will look for answers so that tomorrow we can have the race we know we have the potential for.”

Japanese GP – Sprint Race

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	MARTIN Jorge	89	SPA	12	Pramac Racing	Ducati	21’00.734
2	BINDER Brad	33	RSA	9	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1.39
3	BAGNAIA Francesco	1	ITA	7	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	5.279
4	MILLER Jack	43	AUS	6	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	6.194
5	ZARCO Johann	5	FRA	5	Pramac Racing	Ducati	6.315
6	BEZZECCHI Marco	72	ITA	4	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	8.919
7	MARQUEZ Marc	93	SPA	3	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	9.298
8	DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio	49	ITA	2	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	10.189
9	VINALES Maverick	12	SPA	1	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	12.404
10	FERNANDEZ Raul	25	SPA	0	RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	15.366
11	ESPARGARO Pol	44	SPA	0	Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing	KTM	15.473
12	FERNANDEZ Augusto	37	SPA	0	Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing	KTM	15.592
13	MIR Joan	36	SPA	0	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	17.052
14	OLIVEIRA Miguel	88	POR	0	RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	18.092
15	QUARTARARO Fabio	20	FRA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	19.333
16	MORBIDELLI Franco	21	ITA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	19.645
17	NAKAGAMI Takaaki	30	JPN	0	LCR Honda	Honda	21.682
18	CRUTCHLOW Cal	35	GBR	0	Yamaha Test Team	Yamaha	26.026
19	PIRRO Michele	51	ITA	0	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	27.911
20	BRADL Stefan	6	GER	0	LCR Honda	Honda	28.178
21	ESPARGARO Aleix	41	SPA	DNF	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	DNF

Rider standings

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor
1	BAGNAIA Francesco	1	ITA	299	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
2	MARTIN Jorge	89	SPA	291	Pramac Racing	Ducati
3	BEZZECCHI Marco	72	ITA	252	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati
4	BINDER Brad	33	RSA	201	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
5	ZARCO Johann	5	FRA	162	Pramac Racing	Ducati
6	ESPARGARO Aleix	41	SPA	160	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia
7	VINALES Maverick	12	SPA	139	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia
8	MARINI Luca	10	ITA	135	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati
9	MILLER Jack	43	AUS	115	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
10	MARQUEZ Alex	73	SPA	108	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati
11	QUARTARARO Fabio	20	FRA	105	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
12	MORBIDELLI Franco	21	ITA	77	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
13	OLIVEIRA Miguel	88	POR	69	RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia
14	FERNANDEZ Augusto	37	SPA	58	Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing	KTM
15	MARQUEZ Marc	93	SPA	48	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
16	RINS Alex	42	SPA	47	LCR Honda	Honda
17	DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio	49	ITA	45	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati
18	NAKAGAMI Takaaki	30	JPN	40	LCR Honda	Honda
19	PEDROSA Dani	26	SPA	32	KTM Test Team	KTM
20	FERNANDEZ Raul	25	SPA	29	RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia
21	BASTIANINI Enea	23	ITA	25	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
22	MIR Joan	36	SPA	16	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
23	ESPARGARO Pol	44	SPA	11	Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing	KTM
24	SAVADORI Lorenzo	32	ITA	9	RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia
25	FOLGER Jonas	94	GER	9	Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing	KTM
26	BRADL Stefan	6	GER	6	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
27	PETRUCCI Danilo	9	ITA	5	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
28	PIRRO Michele	51	ITA	5	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
29	LECUONA Iker	27	SPA	0	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
30	CRUTCHLOW Cal	35	GBR	0	Yamaha Test Team	Yamaha