MotoGP 2023 Preview Round 5, Grand Prix de France
France: Marc Marquez makes his much-anticipated return to restore the Repsol Honda Team and re-join Joan Mir, both looking for stable weekends during a milestone event.
After breaking the first metacarpal on his right hand in Portugal, Marc Marquez will return to racing his Repsol Honda Team RC213V in France. Having consulted with three separate medical teams, all involved are satisfied with the healing of the bone and the #93 will be back on track in France. The primary focus of the weekend will be getting back into the flow of a Grand Prix weekend and picking up where Marquez and the Honda RC213V left off. Marquez has stood on the top step of the podium on three occasions in the premier class in Le Mans.
With a busy post-race test completed, Joan Mir arrives in Le Mans eager to find consistency and improvement. Having shown flashes of his potential during testing and the early races, there’s no doubt that Mir and the Honda RC213V have a lot more to give after a handful of trying rounds. Putting together a consistent weekend will be Mir’s primary focus, making the most of all the track time available. As always at Le Mans, the weather has the potential to turn the tides of any weekend but the forecast cooler conditions should suit the #36 better than the scorching conditions in Jerez.
Round five of the 2023 World Championship sees Grand Prix motorcycle racing cross a historic threshold, the French GP schedule to be the 1000th event. Starting in 1949, manufacturers and riders from across the world would begin to compete for the highest honour in two-wheeled racing. 1959 saw Honda take a first step into this world and take a maiden win two years later in 1961. Since then, the history of Honda and Grand Prix racing have been intertwined with Honda taking 817 victories across all Grand Prix classes to date.
The full-strength Repsol Honda Team will be back out on track at 10:45 Local Time for Free Practice 1 on Friday, May 12.
Marc Marquez
“I am really happy to be back with the Repsol Honda Team, about to ride my bike again. First of all I want to thank my medical team for their professionalism and advice over the past few weeks. Of course as a rider you always want to be back as soon as possible, but with an injury like this it was really important to allow it to heal. Now I am here and fully focused on riding, I have no worries about the injury since it’s fully healed. Let’s see what the French GP brings and most importantly, work to our maximum.”
Joan Mir
“Arriving in France, we come with an open mind. We had a busy Monday test where we were able to try some things, especially working on the base setting of the bike. I am hoping that we will be able to take profit of this during the weekend. The French GP always has the extra element of the weather, often it is cold or raining. At the moment it looks a bit colder, but these cooler conditions seem to suit us better this year, so we are aiming to make the most of the situation we have. No matter what, we keep working together.”
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Points | Team | Constructor |
| 1 | BAGNAIA Francesco | 1 | 87 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 2 | BEZZECCHI Marco | 72 | 65 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 3 | BINDER Brad | 33 | 62 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 4 | MILLER Jack | 43 | 49 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 5 | VINALES Maverick | 12 | 48 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 6 | MARINI Luca | 10 | 48 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 7 | MARTIN Jorge | 89 | 48 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 8 | RINS Alex | 42 | 47 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 9 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | 46 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 10 | MARQUEZ Alex | 73 | 41 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 11 | QUARTARARO Fabio | 20 | 40 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 12 | MORBIDELLI Franco | 21 | 34 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 13 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | 29 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 14 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | 88 | 21 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 15 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | 49 | 17 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 16 | FERNANDEZ Augusto | 37 | 17 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 17 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | 30 | 14 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 18 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | 13 | KTM Test Team | KTM |
| 19 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | 7 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 20 | PIRRO Michele | 51 | 5 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 21 | MIR Joan | 36 | 5 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 22 | FOLGER Jonas | 94 | 4 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 23 | FERNANDEZ Raul | 25 | 3 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 24 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | 2 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 25 | LECUONA Iker | 27 | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 26 | BASTIANINI Enea | 23 | 0 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
