Ninth to third, Marquez takes hard-fought final Sprint podium with Repsol Honda Team
An emotional Marc Marquez left nothing on track as he returned to the MotoGP Sprint podium for the third time in 2023, a gift to the Repsol Honda Team.
Having shown strong and consistent pace throughout the weekend, Marc Marquez headed into Q2 ready and eager to perform. A final weekend with the Repsol Honda Team spurred the #93 on to take extra risks in order to see out the 11-year relationship in the best way possible. Unfortunately, a mistake into Turn 2 on his final flying lap would end Marquez’s charge towards the front row and see him line up in ninth. With overtaking in Valencia notoriously difficult, the eight-time World Champion was left frustrated.
Launching perfectly as the lights went out, Marquez immediately made-up ground and lined up a big move into Turn 2. He’d keep the pace of leaders as he, Binder and Martin reeled in and passed early leader Maverick Viñales. With a Sprint podium in his sights, Marquez was giving no ground and set the fastest lap of the race on lap four – a 1’29.809. Marquez’s challenge would last until the final laps when catching Martin and Binder finally became impossible, crossing the line in a well-earned third place.
Arriving to the Sprint podium with thousands of fans and the members of his Repsol Honda Team below, Marquez – who has enjoyed 11 seasons with HRC – fought back the emotions to celebrate his third Sprint podium of 2023.
Joan Mir’s weekend was forced into an early finish, the #36 deemed unfit after his fall on Friday. His focus will now be on recovering and preparing for the post-season test on Tuesday.
Sunday is set to be an emotional day for the entire Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez prepares to line up on the Honda RC213V for the final time and celebrate a relationship which has brought six MotoGP World Championships and five Triple Crowns. Every lap of the 27-lap race will have all involved giving their maximum to end the season, and an incredible era of MotoGP, in the best way possible.
Marc Marquez
“You can give all the presents, all the helmets, all the boots you want – but the best present is what you give on the track. That’s what today was about, giving something to the Repsol Honda Team, to HRC, to my people who have been with me across this journey. I increased the risk I was taking a step and even in the race I almost crashed many times, but today I was able to do a good start, a good first lap and make a good race. It’s important to enjoy this special moment with everyone, it was honestly hard to fight the emotions on the podium. All of my team, HRC and the fans there – it was really nice to give everyone this moment. The objective is to continue like this tomorrow, but we need to see the conditions, how we start, many things.”
Valencia GP - Sprint Race
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 12 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 19'38.827 |
| 2 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 9 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0.190 |
| 3 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 7 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 2.122 |
| 4 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 6 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 3.106 |
| 5 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 5 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 4.253 |
| 6 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 4 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 4.400 |
| 7 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 3 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 4.502 |
| 8 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 2 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 5.578 |
| 9 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 1 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 5.910 |
| 10 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 0 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 6.095 |
| 11 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 0 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 7.674 |
| 12 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 8.098 |
| 13 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 0 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 9.513 |
| 14 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | 0 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 12.453 |
| 15 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 0 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 12.599 |
| 16 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 13.787 |
| 17 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 0 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 13.887 |
| 18 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 0 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 14.943 |
| 19 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 20.378 |
| 20 | Savadori Lorenzo | 32 | ITA | 0 | Aprilia Racing Test Team | Aprilia | 25.017 |
| 21 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | DNF | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | DNF |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 442 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 2 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 428 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 3 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 329 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 4 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 277 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 5 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 205 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 6 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 198 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 7 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 198 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 8 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 194 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 9 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 167 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 10 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 167 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 11 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 163 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 12 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 138 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 13 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 96 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 14 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 93 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 15 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 84 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 16 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 76 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 17 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 71 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 18 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 54 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 19 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 52 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 20 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 40 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 21 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | 32 | KTM Test Team | KTM |
| 22 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 26 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 23 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | 13 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 24 | Savadori Lorenzo | 32 | ITA | 9 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 25 | Folger Jonas | 94 | GER | 9 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 26 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | 8 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 27 | Petrucci Danilo | 9 | ITA | 5 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 28 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | 5 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 29 | Crutchlow Cal | 35 | GBR | 3 | Yamaha Test Team | Yamaha |
| 30 | Lecuona Iker | 27 | SPA | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 31 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 0 | Ducati Test Team | Ducati |
Location Information
The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana was completed in 1999 and held rounds of the MotoGP and Spanish Motorcycle Championships in the same year. The Cheste track has several layouts, running anti-clockwise with varying lengths. MotoGP events are held on a 4km track comprising of five right handed corners, eight… read more.
| Length | 4.005 kilometres / 2.489 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 9 |
| Right corners | 5 |
| Longest straight | 0.876 kilometres / 0.544 miles |
| Constructed | 1999 |
Circuito de la Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Cheste, Spain - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 28.931s (162.1km/h) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m 30.145s (159.9km/h) Brad Binder (KTM, 2023) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
