Fresh from Marc Marquez’s brilliant victory in Australia, the Repsol Honda Team have rushed to Malaysia for the penultimate round of the season leading the Rider, Constructor and Team Championships.

With a margin of 33 points over second-place Andrea Dovizioso and a maximum of 50 points still available, Marc will have his first chance to secure the 2017 MotoGP Title next Sunday.

Dani Pedrosa is looking forward to race at a track where he has always been very successful in the past, aiming to recover from two frustrating races in which he struggled with the variable and cold weather conditions.

Besides their normal tasks on track, Marc and Dani will have to face the typical Malaysian extreme weather conditions. Rain will be once again a strong probability, while extremely hot temperatures and physically demanding sessions will surely be a factor to deal with.

At the Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix

Marc Marquez has 2 wins— 1X 125 (2010) 1xMotoGP (2014)—plus 1 podium and 4 pole positions.
Dani Pedrosa has 5 wins —1X125 (2003) 1X250 (2004) and 3XMotoGP (2012, 2013, 2015) plus an additional 5 podiums and 3 pole positions.


Marc Marquez  93

“We are happy of course to go to Malaysia having won at Phillip Island. I knew that it was very important to get a good result in Australia and try to open a bit of a gap before Sepang, which is a demanding round, and where Dovi won last season. One of the main thing there is the humidity. And the high temperatures of course. I think it’s one of the more difficult race under the point of view of the physical conditions. One good thing is that the tarmac is good now as it has be re-surfaced not long ago. The grip also is nice. We’ll see how the situation will be and will try to manage it at the best for the Championship.”

Dani Pedrosa  26

“We look forward to go and race in Malaysia, a place we have some very good memories. It’s not an easy round as weather conditions are pretty extreme.
The layout also is demanding: the track itself is quite wide and the corners are different one from the other so you need to find a good line in order to be fast. Said that, we know that we can be competitive if we will find a good setup, so we’ll try to start strong since Friday and get a good result on Sunday.”

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 which also houses a hotel, shopping centre, golf course and other sports facilities 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.