MotoGP team boss admits his 33-podium rider is in an ‘uncomfortable’ situation

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Crashes are not always an indicator of a bad MotoGP rider with even the best finding the gravel. But one team boss has admitted his rider is not comfortable on their bike.

Even the best pilots in the premier class like Marc Marquez often top the crash charts at the end of a season. The six-time MotoGP champion is well-known for his habit of taking a trip through the gravel, with regular falls in practice and in qualifying as he tries to find the limit.

Yet while problems with a rider’s front tyre pressure, ride height device and aero-wake woes even cause crashes, falls through any Grand Prix weekend can also highlight a bad bike. And that was indeed the case in 2024 for one rider, whose team boss admits they must improve.

Alberto Puig admits Joan Mir ‘still’ cannot ‘match’ Honda’s MotoGP bike

Honda team manager Alberto Puig has conceded that Joan Mir ‘still’ cannot find a rhythm to match their troublesome RC213V bike after his second season at the squad. The 27-year-old joined Honda before the 2023 season following Suzuki’s decision to withdraw from MotoGP.

Mir was not known as a crasher before joining Honda, with his consistency a vital trait which won the Spaniard the MotoGP riders’ title in 2020. Across the 14 rounds staged in the Covid-disrupted season, Mir only retired during three races and finished in the top five nine times.

READ MORE: Every MotoGP team’s confirmed 2025 rider line-up and contract details

Only one win, which Mir secured in the European Grand Prix, also proved enough for him to win the 2020 MotoGP title by 13 points. Yet crashes became far too familiar for Mir in 2024, with 10 Grand Prix retirements on his record compared to teammate Luca Marini’s just two.

Puig admits Mir’s challenge to excel with a Honda bike Marini fears will never match Ducati’s has left their 33-time world championship podium finisher in a difficult place. The team boss even fears the Spaniard could lose motivation if Honda continue to fail to improve their bike.

“He’s already a world champion in MotoGP,” Puig told the official MotoGP website. “So, the current situation is not so comfortable for him. I mean, the bike is not at the level [we want].

“He’s trying. He’s had some crashes, obviously, because when you’re a champion, you’re pushing because you want to get the result. But, still, things could not match and we hope that he can keep his motivation up even in difficult times.”

Joan Mir only ranked ninth in the 2024 MotoGP crash championship standings

MotoGP riders amassed a total of 335 crashes over the 2024 season, marking a decrease from the 358 seen the term before. Rookie sensation Pedro Acosta crashed more often than any MotoGP rider in 2024, as well, with the then-Tech3 rider falling 28 times over 20 rounds.

Marquez (24) also ranked second in the 2024 crash standings, having penned the most falls during 2023 in his final year at Honda with a record 29. Yet despite Mir’s difficulties with the Honda bike Marquez quit on, his 17 falls were just the ninth-most in the 2024 MotoGP term.

Mir did pen the most crashes by a Honda rider in 2024 with teammate Marini only crashing four times, while LCR pilots Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami in 10th with 15 and in 20th with seven. Mir will not want to again be the Honda rider who crashes the most over 2025.