Repsol Honda Team work for Sunday success after complicated Saturday in Indonesia

MotoGP16th October 2023 Round 15, Grand Prix of Indonesia Indonesia, October 14, 2023: After a promising Friday, falls and other complications limited the potential of Marc Marquez and Joan Mir – the pair walking away without points after the Mandalika Sprint race.

Joan Mir did his utmost in the Sprint Race to recover from a complicated Qualifying which saw him start 19th. An aggressive start allowed the #36 to make up a handful of places when the lights went out and attach himself into the group ahead. Steady pace during the 13-lap Sprint had Mir running on the verge of points in 12th place until late race complications saw him suddenly drop down to 16th place on the last lap.

Working overnight, Mir and his team will put their full efforts into improving his feeling at the end of the race in order for the 2020 World MotoGP Champion to show his speed throughout the entire 27-lap Indonesian Grand Prix on Sunday.

A dramatic Q2 session saw Marc Marquez recover from a mid-session crash to score eighth on the grid. Nearly saving a front end fall at Turn 4, Marquez quickly remounted with the clock ticking on the 15-minute session to improve his time to a 1’30.864 – a full second faster this his 2022 Qualifying time. Misfortune would strike Marquez almost before his race had begun, the eight-time World Champion falling unharmed on the first lap.

Both Repsol Honda Team riders will be out to make dramatic improvements in Sunday’s race, scheduled to start at 15:00 Local Time. Conditions have remained consistent throughout the weekend and the heat looks to remain unwavering on Sunday.

Marc Marquez (DNF)

“Our race was very short today; I lost the front at Turn 11 on the first lap. It’s a shame to finish the race so early because normally in the first laps I am very strong. We took a risk in the first laps and this is what can happen. The negative is that we didn’t finish the race and miss some information about how the tyres behave but the positive point is that we save our physical condition for the race tomorrow which will be a very long and hard race physically. Tomorrow it will be a tough race; the aim is the top 12.”

Joan Mir (16th)

“Today was not what we were expecting to be honest. After the feeling we had yesterday, I thought we had the potential to go into Q2 but today I arrived at the limit quite early. In the Sprint Race, I was trying very hard to recover but I couldn’t ride exactly how I wanted in the first laps because we were battling. Once I found a bit of clean air and free space, I was pleased with my lap times which were similar to the top six. Tomorrow will be a tricky day, at the end of the race today it was difficult to finish because the tyre temperatures were very high.”

Indonesian GP – Sprint Race

Rider standings