Repsol Honda Team rider Marc Marquez at the CatalanGP

Barcelona, September 4th, 2023: A challenging day in Barcelona saw Marc Marquez and Joan Mir avoid a number of incidents on track, Marquez leaving with another point-scoring finish.

Sunday proved to be a dramatic day at the Catalan GP as chaos unfolded over the opening few corners, both Repsol Honda Team riders avoiding issues. With the Red Flag immediately coming out Marc Marquez and Joan Mir returned to the Repsol Honda Team garage and awaited the restart. Race distance was reduced to 23 laps as a result of the restart.

Marquez, starting 11th due to a grid penalty for Bastianini, launched well to quickly move inside the top ten. As in the Sprint on Saturday, the Repsol Honda Team rider held his own in the opening half of the race before settling into his rhythm for the remainder of the race. Quartararo would pressure the #93 for multiple laps, eventually getting past after a spirited defense from the Honda rider. Taking 13th at the line, Marquez was able to collect more points and complete another Grand Prix weekend without major incident.

Joan Mir made solid starts to both races and challenged for points in the early laps. The traction issues which he and the team have been looking to solve all weekend again prevented him from showing his potential, the #36 able to bring the RC213V back to the garage. Crossing the line in 17th place, Mir is aiming to reset and go again in Misano.

The Repsol Honda Team now head directly to Misano for the penultimate European race of the season and the last in-season test before the frenetic end of season marathon begins.

Marc Marquez (13th)

“First of all, I am very glad that Pecco and all of the other riders avoided any serious injury. I saw Pecco crash on the opening lap and I immediately did everything I could to make sure I could avoid him. In the race restart I was able to gain a few positions. Then, like yesterday I was very strong at the start but then had to go into a more conservative mode in the second half of the race. In the final races I was focusing on getting the bike home. Now we start thinking about Misano.”

Joan Mir (17th)

“Honestly, I made a good start to the first race and I made up a fair few positions. But unfortunately, the rest of our race was similar to the day before and we struggled for grip. After six or seven laps the tyre dropped a lot and I was worked to finish the race and stay on the bike. I used the time to try some different maps on the bike with this time to see if it changed anything. Avoiding a crash was important and we finished the last laps carefully to head to Misano in as positive a way as possible.”

Catalan Grand Prix Results

 

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 ESPARGARO ALEIX 41 SPA 25 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 38’56.159
2 VINALES MAVERICK 12 SPA 20 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.377
3 MARTIN JORGE 89 SPA 16 Pramac Racing Ducati 2.831
4 ZARCO JOHANN 5 FRA 13 Pramac Racing Ducati 4.867
5 OLIVEIRA MIGUEL 88 POR 11 RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 7.529
6 MARQUEZ ALEX 73 SPA 10 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 10.590
7 QUARTARARO FABIO 20 FRA 9 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 10.821
8 MILLER JACK 43 AUS 8 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 10.880
9 FERNANDEZ AUGUSTO 37 SPA 7 Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 12.889
10 DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO 49 ITA 6 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 13.280
11 MARINI LUCA 10 ITA 5 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 16.491
12 BEZZECCHI MARCO 72 ITA 4 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 16.561
13 MARQUEZ MARC 93 SPA 3 Repsol Honda Team Honda 21.616
14 MORBIDELLI FRANCO 21 ITA 2 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 23.108
15 NAKAGAMI TAKAAKI 30 JPN 1 LCR Honda Honda 26.740
16 LECUONA IKER 27 SPA 0 LCR Honda Honda 28.860
17 MIR JOAN 36 SPA 0 Repsol Honda Team Honda 33.929
18 FERNANDEZ RAUL 25 SPA DNF RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia DNF
19 BINDER BRAD 33 RSA DNF Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM DNF
20 ESPARGARO POL 44 SPA DNF Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM DNF
21 BASTIANINI ENEA 23 ITA DNF Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati DNF
22 BAGNAIA FRANCESCO 1 ITA DNF Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati DNF