Метка: Joan Mir

Honda has found ‘clear direction’ with new MotoGP concept

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


After four rounds in 2024, Honda has scored just 13 points in the manufacturers’ standings, with none of its riders breaking into the top 10 in grands prix yet.

During the Americas Grand Prix, Mir was very critical of Honda for pursuing what he felt was the wrong bike concept and said the marque had to “take responsibility” for this.

On Monday at the post-race Jerez test, however, Mir – who sat 20th as of 2pm local time – was buoyed by the bike he tried in the opening hours of the test and felt Honda had found the correct direction now to develop.

“For me, the day was more positive than what you could see because we tried a different concept,” he started.

“And honestly, I think it was working, was the direction I want to take for the future.

“It’s one direction that we need to develop but I think it can have some potential in the future – not now, but in the future.

“And more or less it was positive because we know the direction we finally have to take and this is nice.”

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Asked if it was a new engine he was testing, Mir added: “Well… we are testing different stuff on the engine, not probably [a full] engine, but different things to understand the direction. And I think I have things clear.”

Honda test rider Stefan Bradl contested last weekend’s Spanish GP on a lab bike, but Mir says this motorcycle was “not the right direction and I decided to continue with my one” for the Jerez weekend, having tried it in a test in Barcelona.

A key issue for Honda this year has been the bike’s poor turning, but the new bike concept Mir tried on Monday at Jerez appears to have improved on this.

“We are trying to find the turning that we are missing,” he said when asked what the new bike was doing better.

“That is the weakest point that we can have and it looks like we understood that with this thing we can have more turning.

“It’s true that we lose a lot in other areas but it’s areas where there is a lot of margin to improve. So, that gives us a direction.”



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Mir rages at «irregular» MotoGP stewards after Marquez sprint clash

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


While battling for the outer reaches of the sprint points late on in Saturday’s crash-strewn sprint race at Jerez, Marquez collided with Honda’s Mir at the last corner as he made a failed overtake attempt.

Mir took a strong hit and lost several places, ultimately finishing out of the points in 10th.

Gresini rider Marquez, who crashed out of the lead on lap nine, was ordered to drop one position by the stewards for the clash but still scored points in seventh.

Mir felt the punishment Marquez got was «unfair» as he feels he was given a harsher penalty for a collision with Fabio Quartararo in the Portugal sprint last year, and took aim at what he feels is the stewards’ lack of consistency.

«It was a bit unfair because I think I made a really good start, then I had the contact in Turn 2,» Mir started.

«Then I lost a lot of positions and then I started to break away from the group I had behind to the guys in front. I overtook the group with Miguel [Oliveira] and then I stayed behind Raul to prepare one attack for the last laps.

«And then Marc just came at the last corner, he touched me, he hit me out of the track, I lost all the positions.

«And then when he overtook Miguel in the same exact way, [and] he was demoted [only] one position and that’s it.

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, the last time I received a penalty was in Portimao in the [2023] sprint race, similar thing. I braked, I overtook Fabio, I lost the front, I kicked Fabio out and he lost a couple of positions.

«I crashed and for the race on Sunday they gave me a double long lap.

«That was the last penalty I got. So, this time he didn’t crash, he hit me out of the track, I lost four positions – [he is] demoted one position. I want to understand.

«This is something that when I went into the box I was with a poker face because I say ‘how is this possible that one rider you say one thing, and for the same move or even worse it’s [only] demoted one position’.»

Marquez felt his penalty was «good for the stewards» and feels Mir «tried to insist» on the brakes in his defence.

«Was exactly the same situation as with [Brad] Binder,» the Gresini rider remarked. «Binder overtook me and then I saw him and then I saw and pick up the bike.

«I try to overtake Mir in a smooth way but then he released the brakes and go in and then we had the contact.

«Was my fault but yeah, sometimes you need to understand. For example, with Binder I was able to go in and had the contact but then I know that I will lose not only with Binder, I will also lose more positions.

«So sometimes you need to analyse. But in that case, Mir tried to insist and I didn’t release the brakes enough to overtake him completely.

«I take the penalty, one position, was a good penalty for the stewards but it was easy to drop a position to Oliveira and come back from there as well.»

Mir added: «I’m not pissed with the manoeuvre from Marc, because if he waited three seconds more we pass the corner and in the straight he overtakes me.

«So, this is something that I don’t really understand being in that position.

«If we fight for the podium I understand. But man, it’s unbelievable how they value these types of things, and they are so irregular with penalties. It’s unbelievable.

«In the end, I’m a rider who in the past liked to overtake with contact. It’s something that I do because nowadays with the aero it’s very difficult to overtake.

«So, with a bit of contact, we have to have this margin in the overtakes. But one thing is the margin to touch and open your line, and the other thing is to kick the rider out of the track.

«This is a completely different story. They have to judge as they did in the past.»

Asked if he felt Marquez’s overtaking was over the limit, Mir replied: «He came into my line, he kicked me out of the track to get that position. So, this is something at the moment you cannot do. Or if you do, you have to be penalised.»

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Important for Honda “to take responsibility” for 2024 MotoGP bike woes

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Honda looked to have made genuine gains with its 2024 bike when it appeared at the Valencia test last November, but that proved to be a false dawn.

HRC sits last in the constructors’ table with just eight points after the opening two rounds of the 2024 season, with Mir scoring a best of 11th in Portugal.

Honda riders occupied the last four spots on the timesheets at the end of Friday’s practice for the Americas Grand Prix, with Mir suffering a crash late on to end up 20th and 2.047s off the pace.

Already admitting he was doubtful of a good showing coming into the weekend, Mir says Honda appears to be “paying the consequences” for taking the wrong development direction with the 2024 RC213V.

“Yesterday I was not very convinced about today,” he said on Friday.

“We are having some problems that, more struggles than probably what I expected after the tests in the beginning of the season.

“This problem in one track and the other and the other is not improving, we are not improving.

“I cannot really speak about what the problem is, but I think we took a direction that was not the right one and now we are paying the consequences. We must continue working.

“The thing is we detect the problem probably and now we have to work on it, and the reality is that today my position is probably not the real one because I had the crash but I think I didn’t have the chance to go to Q2.

“And last year I was closer, I missed the Q2 for a couple of tenths. At the moment, we are struggling more than last year at this track and also Portimao.”

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Asked if he was confident HRC could develop its way out of its problems, Mir replied: “The important thing is to take responsibility about what is happening, change fast and try to modify fast the direction.

“This is very important. Here is where we need to be clever with the test, that concession will be very helpful to do it.

“Well, I will say as a rider I feel strong, I’m pushing, I don’t give up but at the moment we have a limit.”

Honda scored its last grand prix victory at the Circuit of the Americas 12 months ago courtesy of Alex Rins, but Mir notes that the braking potential and agility of the bike has worsened in that time.

“Before the braking and the turning on this bike was one thing that was pretty good, and we can see that it was very agile – more agile than the other bikes. Now it isn’t,” he concluded.

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Mir slams Morbidelli for ‘not clever’ opening lap clash in Portugal MotoGP

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Although Pramac Ducati rider Morbidelli started Sunday’s Portimao three positions ahead of Mir in 17th, a poor getaway dropped him into the clutches of his Honda rival through the opening sequence of corners.

As they battled for position, Morbidelli made contact with Mir in an incident not captured on TV, sending the Spaniard wide and dropping him to 21st position.

Although the factory Honda rider was able to recover to 12th place, aided by three leading riders (Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales) crashing in the last three laps, he felt Morbidelli was simply too aggressive given the position he was running in.

“On the first lap I was there overtaking but quite on the position,” said the 2020 champion. “In that position you have to stay a bit calm in the first laps.

“This is the reality because it’s a big race and there are a lot of bikes in front of you and you have to be a bit clever, no? Morbidelli wasn’t.

“He just came to me. He hit me with a lot of speed. I went out of the track at Turn 8 and my race was a little bit compromised for this problem.”

Mir revealed that his Honda was heavily damaged from contact with Morbidelli, which affected both his braking as well as his stability through the corners.

“The rear part of the bike, the wing tail and all these things were gone,” he said.

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I didn’t have any one of them. Also the front wing was there but was shaking and moving a lot. Also the exhaust [was damaged].

“I was struggling without the wings, to stop the bike in Turn 1 was — wah! It was a challenge, also in Turn 5. It’s a shame that in the back nobody is filming, because it was far.

“I made a good weekend. I’m in good form. So let’s move to another one and hope that in the next one that riders on the back think a bit more on the first laps. That will also be safer for everyone.”

Morbidelli fell to the ground following the incident with Mir, but was able to remount on the bike and gain some crucial mileage on the Ducati to take 18th at the flag.

Mir feels Morbidelli didn’t deserve a sanction for the accident, as the crash was enough of a penalty for the Italian.

“Well, he crashed, no? So he was penalised,” said the 26-year-old.

“If not, yes. But because he crashed. He didn’t want to crash, he doesn’t want to crash. So this is the penalty that he got.”

Morbidelli, meanwhile, defended his riding when Mir’s views were put to him, downplaying his role in their collision.

Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing

Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It’s part of racing when you are in the group,” said the Italian.

“I just went on the inside and we touched and then from then on I just went wide.”

Former Yamaha rider Morbidelli missed both pre-season tests in Malaysia and Qatar following a serious crash on a Ducati roadbike at Portimao in January, which severely compromised his preparations for his first campaign with the marque.

Still gaining crucial miles on his GP24, Morbidelli took positives from the race even as he ended up last in the order.

“We keep our learning curve with this bike and I can go home pretty satisfied,” the 29-year-old said.

“For sure results-wise not yet because in the race I made a mistake. I made a mistake in the start, I had a bad start and then I was caught up in a group and I went wide and I crashed.

“After that the race result-wise was pretty much gone, but actually the rhythm was very acceptable and was very decent.

“So that’s encouraging because still I need to learn everything and I need to get in tune with everything but already some things we are realising that are coming. So that’s positive. I just need to keep going in and I need to speed it up.”

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