The final assault on 2023 begins in Malaysia for Repsol Honda Team
Sepang International Circuit2023’s end looms large as just three more Grands Prix are left on the longest MotoGP season to date, the Repsol Honda Team ready to work until the end.
Round 18 begins the final push of the 2023, one last triple header to conclude an intense year. The familiar Sepang International Circuit will kick off this last stint, its 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.
Location Information
Specifically built for speed and exciting racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia is one of the world’s best. The 2,300 acre complex cost around £50m to construct and was built in just 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and setting the standard for race circuits worldwide.
With four slow corners following two long straights and ten medium to high-speed corners, the wide track is particularly favourable to overtaking manoeuvres and plenty of open throttle. One of the longest laps in MotoGP is made all the more gruelling for riders by intense heat and humidity. Sepang is located around 50km south of Kuala Lumpur city.
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!
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.