Iker Lecuona continues steps forward as Marc Marquez battles through limitations on reserved Dutch GP Saturday. Complications continued for Marc Marquez on Saturday as he saved himself for the key moments of the day. The eight-time World Champion had already i View this email in your browser   Sprint Race Report Saturday, Jun 24th 2023   TT Assen MotoGP 2023   Round 8 Repsol Honda Team look to put Saturday learnings toward Sunday improvements Iker Lecuona continues steps forward as Marc Marquez battles through limitations on reserved Dutch GP Saturday. Complications continued for Marc Marquez on Saturday as he saved himself for the key moments of the day. The eight-time World Champion had already identified Q1 as the first critical point of the day and prepared to go all out in the second half of the session. His chances of a transfer spot would be dashed when he and Enea Bastianini made contact in the final minutes of the session. Unharmed in the fall, Marquez lined up in 17th for the Sprint race. A strong start to the shorter race quickly saw the #93 make up positions and close in on the top ten in the opening laps. As the race went on, the pain from his cracked second rib limited Marquez's ability to ride as he would have liked and he ultimately finished in 17th. Iker Lecuona continued to make great forward progress across his second day in the Netherlands. Ending Friday with a best time of 1'33.720, the 23-year-old would make improvements of almost 0.7s come Qualifying. A 1'33.088 saw him take 22nd on the grid, ahead of Jonas Folger and under a tenth from HRC Test Rider Stefan Bradl. Lecuona and team were pleased with the improvements made as they lined up for the 13-lap Sprint race. Consistent laps from the start saw the Team HRC WorldSBK regular immediately move clear of Folger and hold his own to the end of the race. Earning 20th at the line, Lecuona is buoyed by the progress made and is eager for another run on Sunday. Marc Marquez  93 17th  "I made a really good start to the race; I was able to make up a lot of positions in the first lap. Then I settled down a bit and just found my pace, focusing on myself. I was suffering a bit more today with the rib, especially in regard to breathing and using the pectoral in the best way. The goal for tomorrow is to finish the race. I also want to apologies to Enea for this morning, it was my mistake." Iker Lecuona  27 20th  "I am really happy with how the day, and the weekend, has gone so far. We are improving with every run we do on the bike which is the goal. In Quali I found almost seventh tenths compared to Friday and I am getting closer and closer to the other Hondas. I'm happy with this. In the Sprint I made a good start but I played it safe in the opening corners. My pace improved over the race and I was able to overtake Bradl on the last lap. We need to check a few things tonight with the team, and hopefully I can make another step on Sunday." Dutch GP - Sprint Race Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 Bezzecchi Marco 72 ITA 12 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 20'09.1740 2 Bagnaia Francesco 1 ITA 9 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1.294 3 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA 7 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1.872 4 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA 6 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 2.245 5 Binder Brad 33 RSA 5 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 4.582 6 Martin Jorge 89 SPA 4 Pramac Racing Ducati 5.036 7 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA 3 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 5.876 8 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA 2 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 10.102 9 Marquez Alex 73 SPA 1 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 10.525 10 Marini Luca 10 ITA 0 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 10.556 11 Miller Jack 43 AUS 0 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 11.191 12 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN 0 LCR Honda Honda 11.473 13 Zarco Johann 5 FRA 0 Pramac Racing Ducati 15.439 14 Fernandez Augusto 37 SPA 0 Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 17.754 15 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA 0 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 19.508 16 Savadori Lorenzo 32 ITA 0 Aprilia Racing Test Team Aprilia 19.664 17 Marquez Marc 93 SPA 0 Repsol Honda Team Honda 19.916 18 Fernandez Raul 25 SPA 0 RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 20.583 19 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR 0 RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 24.269 20 Lecuona Iker 27 SPA 0 Repsol Honda Team Honda 24.727 21 Folger Jonas 94 GER 0 Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 32.056 22 Bradl Stefan 6 GER 0 LCR Honda Honda 35.372 23 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA DNF Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati DNF Copyright Free Images For editorial use only, click here to download images. Location Information Assen is the only venue to have held a round of the Motorcycle World Championship every year since its creation in 1949. The circuit was purpose built for the Dutch TT in 1955, with previous events having been held on public roads. The track is narrow, with rapid changes in… read more. Length 4.542 kilometres / 2.822 miles Width 14 metres Left corners 6 Right corners 12 Longest straight 0.487 kilometres / 0.303 miles Constructed 1955 Modified 2012 Circuit Records Pole Position 1m 31.504s (178.6km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) Race Lap 1m 32.500s (176.7km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2022) Race Time 40m 25.205s (175.2km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) 2022 Race Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) 2023 Sprint Winner Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) TT Circuit Assen, De Haar, Assen, The Netherlands –  View in Google Maps www.ttcircuit.com You are receiving this email because you have registered your interest with Honda Racing CorporationIf you no longer want to receive emails from Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP, please click here to unsubscribe .