While his stunning qualifying lap may have suggested a repeat of the Ph🅰illip Island podium was on the cards, Sepang proved something of a worse-case scenario - combining the current technical weaknesses of the RCV and his own redu▨ced physical condition.

Marquez held fourth pla🧔ce in the early laps, before dropping to seventh at mid🌞-distance.

The eight-time world champion then fought back against future team-mate Joan ♋Mir and the other Suzuki of Alex Rins, but returned to seventh when he was overtaken by Ducati’s Jack Miller on the final lap.

“It was a long hard race, but it’s what I expected because yesterday's perfor🤪mance was not normal,” Marquez said of his qualifying heroics.

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• 16༺8澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Malaysian Moto2 Grand Prix, Sepang - Race Results
• 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Mꦦalaysian Mot🍌o3 Grand Prix, Sepang - Race Results

“In one lap, you can do it. But in the ra♉ce, I started strong and then immediately saw I was losing [time] on the main straights and risking too much.

“I felt [we had] a slow bike all weekend, so you have to push more in the corners. For a single lap you can do it, but for a race distance the tyre degraꦿdation becomes bigger than normal.

“I tried to find my 🐷rhythm. Mir and Rins were a bit faster than me, but it's what we expec🌜ted.

“Today I took 🌺the maximum. It’s a circuit with the weak points of my riding style, but also the weak points of the bike. So today is one of the worst-case scenarios.

“In the end, I had zero grip because we were pushing too much on the corners and used too much tyres. And as a consequence, I was fig🍌hting against the bike and t🐟hen more and more [against my] physical condition.

“I ꦐfelt [physically] worse than the other races just becau⛦se I was fighting against the bike and using more energy.

“But even like this we finished 7th. Yesterday I said our resu🦹lt or rhythm was between 8-10th. In fact we finished seventh because Martin crashed [from the lead].”

Marquez added: “We are too far from the first guy, but the most import🍌ant for me is that in the winter I was the slowest Honda here on race pace and today I was the fastest.

“It’s not my target [just] to be the first Honda, because my target is always pointing in the front. But always it’s a reference that we are working in a good 🤡way.”

Marquez crossed the line 14s be🍸hind race winner Francesco Bagnaia, whose Ducati he came within a f💞raction of passing for second just a week before in Phillip Island.

“Here in Malaysia, if you don't have e🌳ngine and if you don't have rear grip, you can be Superman but you cannot do anything,” Marquez said.

“The rear grip was there for one lap, but 𒊎then for the race distance I was struggling too much.

“All weekend I didn’t feel the ♌rear contact and thi🙈s, plus on the straights we were losing too much, meant it was impossible to follow the Ducatis.”

Honda ‘in delay’ with 2023 bike

Given Honda’s current slump - sixth and last in the constructors’ standings and the only manufacturer without a race win this se💃ason - Marquez has had one eye on 2023 bike development since last month's return fﷺrom arm surgery.

But he’s still not sure if a ‘2023’ bike will be ready for🌟 t✤he upcoming Valencia post-race test, on November 8.

“They still haven’t given me the schedule. I 🌸don't know if a new bike will arrive or not [at Valencia],” he said.

“We are already in delay because Misano [September🐷] i൲s when normally all the manufacturers try the [new] 2023 bike. We are delayed and Honda know that we're in delay, so we will have only one chance [to get it right].

“I hope to try something interesting in Valencia… also because what ൩you try [at the following test] in Malaysia in Febr𒁏uary is the bike you will race. You don't have time to change it.”

Team-mate Pol Espargaro was the next best Honda rider on Sunday, in 𒆙14th.