2023 begins in Sepang for the Repsol Honda Team 10.02.2023: Marc Marquez and Joan Mir were reunited with their respective Repsol Honda Team RC213Vs as the first of three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit commenced a new year of competition.

Marc Marquez and Joan Mir were reunited with their respective Repsol Honda Team RC213Vs as the first of three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit commenced a new year of competition.



A busy day of testing started the 2023 season in earnest for the Repsol Honda Team, entering their 29th year of competition in the premier class. Classic Sepang conditions were waiting for the Repsol Honda Team as the long break over Winter officially ended. Temperatures in the high 20s persisted throughout the day despite brief spots of rain around lunchtime.



Marc Marquez continued the work started in Valencia as he spent his day riding a number of different configurations for the Honda RC213V. The day started aboard the 2022 Honda RC213V for a handful of laps as Marquez set himself a benchmark as he got back up to MotoGP speed after a winter of training.



Feeling physically fit, the Repsol Honda Team rider worked from track open to track close to assess various options for Honda HRC. Completing a total of 58 laps, the #93 set the 12th fastest time of the opening day. The situation at the end of the Portimao Test remains Marquez’s main focus.



Riding the factory Honda machine for just the first time since the brief Valencia Test, Joan Mir’s primary objective was to confirm the feelings he had in Spain before beginning to work on his testing plan.



Improving his speed throughout the day, Mir completed 53 laps of the 5.5-kilometre-long Sepang International Circuit before ending the day with a handful of practice starts. A 1’59.832 saw the #36 under the 2’00 barrier on his first day riding the Honda RC213V at Sepang, a solid foundation to build off over the coming days.



Action continues for the second day of testing in Malaysia, both Marquez and Mir aiming to continue preparations for the start of the respective 2023 campaigns.   
    



       
    
Marc Marquez  93
12TH  1'59.424


“It was a really busy day, trying a lot of different things like you normally do in the pre-season. We started first on the 2022 bike just to confirm the feeling and then we jumped straight to the new bikes. We tried a few bikes and some different setups for them, getting a lot of interesting information and data from it which now the engineers and technicians need to analyse.



We will see what the situation is at the end of the pre-season, it has just been a single day so it is very early to understand anything. We’re trying different things right now and working hard, it is what testing is for.”         

    
       


    
Joan Mir  36
17TH  1'59.832


“For sure it was a demanding day, we did a lot of laps and we tried many things. We haven’t made a huge step compared to Valencia, but we are taking some steps. The goal is to improve each day and close the gap to the top riders. I am still adapting to the bike, but I think it is going well so far.


There’s a lot of information to process at the moment, from the technical side and in regards to my riding. Everything is moving and developing on all sides, we have to be satisfied with this first step but we need to keep going.”         

    
       
    
Sepang MotoGP Test Day One


1    BEZZECCHI Marco     73    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    1'58.470
2    VINALES Maverick     12    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.130
3    BASTIANINI Enea     23    ITA    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.262
4    MARTIN Jorge     89    SPA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.267
5    BAGNAIA Francesco     62    ITA    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.387
6    ESPARGARO Aleix     41    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.471
7    ZARCO Johann     5    FRA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.496
8    DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio     49    ITA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    0.551
9    MARQUEZ Alex     73    SPA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    0.566
10    MORBIDELLI Franco     21    ITA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.648
11    QUARTARARO Fabio     20    FRA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.952
12    MARQUEZ Marc     93    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    0.954
13    MARINI Luca     10    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    0.999
14    OLIVEIRA Miguel     88    POR    RNF MotoGP Team    Aprilia    1.260
15    FERNANDEZ Raul     25    SPA    RNF MotoGP Team    Aprilia    1.343
16    MILLER Jack     43    AUS    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1.356
17    MIR Joan     36    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    1.362
18    RINS Alex     42    SPA    LCR Honda    Honda    1.493
19    FERNANDEZ Augusto     37    SPA    Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing    KTM    1.557
20    ESPARGARO Pol     44    SPA    Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing    KTM    1.608
21    BINDER Brad     33    RSA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1.615
22    NAKAGAMI Takaaki     30    JPN    LCR Honda    Honda    2.734
    



 Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP,also photos