Marc Marquez returns to full-strength Repsol Honda Team at historic 1000th GP in France

France, May 10, 2023: 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

 

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