Malaysia9th November 2023: 2023’s end looms large as just three more Grands Prix are left on the longest MotoGP season to date, the Repsol Honda Team is ready to work until the end.
Round 18 begins the final push of 2023, one last triple header to conclude an intense year. The familiar Sepang International Circuit will kick off this last stint, it’s 5.54 kilometers familiar to the entirety of the grid after multiple years of pre-season testing at the venue. This offers not only a chance to work from the setup found at the test, but also to clearly benchmark the changes and progress since February.
Marc Marquez lands in Malaysia off the back of progressive weekends, scoring a steady run of points since Misano. Following this trend of putting together consistent weekends and pushing when rewards are at their greatest will again be Marquez’s modus operandi for the Malaysian GP weekend. The #93 has twice taken premier class victory in Sepang and has finished on the podium an additional two times.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage, Joan Mir arrives in Sepang with ambitions of continuing his upward trajectory. Each round of the most recent flyaways has seen Mir’s confidence and feeling with the Honda RC213V grow over race distance, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion regularly showing the same pace as the top five during the race. Qualifying remains the big area to work on for #36, a higher grid position will allow him to keep out of early trouble.
The 10-lap Sprint race is scheduled to start at 15:00 Local Time on Saturday, November 11 with the full-length 20-lap Grand Prix set for 15:00 on Sunday, November 12.
Marc Marquez
“Back to work and back for the last push of the year, it will be a very intense three races. The first one we face is Sepang, a circuit which always presents a challenge for us. We have been strong at a few of the last races, but I think honestly in Sepang it will be tough. The longer corners have been more difficult for us this year but of course we will keep on trying and seeing what’s possible. Let’s make sure it’s a good one and kickstart the end of 2023.”
Joan Mir
“Although the results on paper maybe don’t show it fully, we have been coming better and better over the last few weeks. Coming back to Malaysia, we have some information from the test but more than anything it will be a good opportunity to see how we have progressed since the start of the year. It’s another triple so we need to keep our focus and make the most of all the opportunities that present themselves to us.”
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
| 1 | BAGNAIA Francesco | 1 | ITA | 389 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 2 | MARTIN Jorge | 89 | SPA | 376 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 3 | BEZZECCHI Marco | 72 | ITA | 310 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 4 | BINDER Brad | 33 | RSA | 249 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 5 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 198 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 6 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | FRA | 194 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 7 | VINALES Maverick | 12 | SPA | 170 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 8 | MARINI Luca | 10 | ITA | 164 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 9 | QUARTARARO Fabio | 20 | FRA | 145 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 10 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 144 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 11 | MARQUEZ Alex | 73 | SPA | 117 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 12 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | 49 | ITA | 93 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 13 | MORBIDELLI Franco | 21 | ITA | 84 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 14 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 81 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 15 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | 88 | POR | 76 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 16 | FERNANDEZ Augusto | 37 | SPA | 67 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 17 | RINS Alex | 42 | SPA | 54 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 18 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | 30 |
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