Honda continues to look for a solution to its current crisis in the MotoGP World Championship. The Japanese brand is one of the great beneficiaries of the new concession system of the premier category -doing private training sessions like the one that will take place in Mugello, together with Yamaha, soon-, and the truth is that the bike presented in the preseason seemed to be an improvement compared to 2023, a first step to get out of the deep hole. But, despite everything, the outlook remains very complicated.
The RC213V remains the most complex bike on the grid, and the one furthest from the front. And one of those who suffers it the most is Joan Mir. The Spanish driver is Honda’s best positioned in the points table, 16th with just 12 (80 behind the leader, Jorge Martín). His are all the Repsol Honda team’s points, and a large part of HRC’s 13 in the constructors’ classification (less than double that of Yamaha, which has 27).
The 2020 world champion always took Honda’s winter improvements with caution, in case they were a mirage as they finally seem. But the truth is that he has been enduring this situation in the house of the golden wing for almost a season and a half, since Suzuki’s abrupt departure. and what happened It’s starting to bore him.
The Mallorcan confessed this this Thursday, upon arrival at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans for the French Grand Prix this weekend. And it weighs on Mir not being able to compete with the vast majority of drivers on the grid, but only with those who are condemned to the bottom of the gridthat is, if they are on the handlebars of a Japanese motorcycle.
“Yes, I compete, but with people who are suffering like us.“, began #36, who however has no doubts about himself. “You have to take it in the best possible way, you don’t have to think too much, but I don’t doubt myself right now. But if; This situation bores me. What happens is that you have to look for satisfaction on a personal level. We’ve been like this for a year, and this will be more or less the same“.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Mir wants to focus on the fact that the last French GP was not entirely negative for him, although the bike was different from this season’s: “Last year I had two falls, but it wasn’t a completely negative weekend; like Mugello for example. That bike had some positive points that this year’s bike does not have at the moment. We look at the data, of course, but the bike is different“he explained.
Finally, the man from Palma made reference to the incident with Marc Márquez in Jerez, a touch by the eight-time world champion that provoked Mir’s criticism of Race Direction for its disparity in criteria when it came to sanctioning. In this case, he played down the matter: “What happened [con Márquez] In Jerez this is what happens when drivers come up behind you with more pace than you have. I did that too“he added.
