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Spain’s Marc Marquez makes his much-anticipated return to restore the Repsol Honda Team and re-join Joan Mir, both looking for stable weekends during a milestone event.

After breaking the first metacarpal on his right hand in Portugal, Marquez will return to racing his Repsol Honda Team RC213V at round five of the series at Le Mans, in France, this weekend.

Having consulted with three separate medical teams, all involved are satisfied with the healing of the bone and Marquez’s No.93 bike will be back on track in France.

The primary focus of the weekend will be getting back into the flow of a Grand Prix weekend and picking up where Marquez left off. Marquez has stood on the top step of the podium on three occasions in the premier class in Le Mans.

With a busy post-race test completed, Joan Mir arrives in Le Mans eager to find consistency and improvement.

Having shown flashes of his potential during testing and the early races, there’s no doubt that Mir has a lot more to give after a handful of trying rounds.

Putting together a consistent weekend will be Mir’s primary focus, making the most of all the track time available. As always at Le Mans, the weather has the potential to turn the tides of any weekend but the forecast cooler conditions should suit Mir better than the scorching conditions in Jerez.

Round five of the 2023 World Championship sees Grand Prix motorcycle racing cross a historic threshold, the French GP schedule to be the 1000th event.

Starting in 1949, manufacturers and riders from across the world would begin to compete for the highest honour in two-wheeled racing.

The 1959 season saw Honda take a first step into this world and take a maiden win two years later in 1961. Since then, the history of Honda and Grand Prix racing have been intertwined with Honda taking 817 victories across all Grand Prix classes to date.

The full-strength Repsol Honda Team will be back out on track for Free Practice 1 at round five of the series at Le Mans, in France, on Friday, May 12 (today, NZ time).

Photo courtesy Honda

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Rider standings after round four:

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