Joan Mir and Luca Marini disagree over Honda’s ‘far away’ 2025 bike after MotoGP test

Add as preferred source on Google

Honda seemingly remain at the bottom of the MotoGP pecking order after the Sepang Test. They shaved nearly two-tenths off their Sepang lap record, but that won’t necessarily be enough to bridge the gap.

While Honda have made small progress, then, it doesn’t compare to what their Japanese rivals have achieved. Fabio Quartararo smashed Yamaha’s record by eight-tenths, with the 2021 world champion one of the big surprises of the test.

There are still two days of winter testing remaining, with the start of the season around three weeks away. Thus it’s too early to be confident about the competitive landscape.

But there’s certainly a possibility that Honda find themselves even more isolated this year despite improving their bike. Last season, they finished bottom of the constructors’ with 75 points, 49 behind Yamaha.

2020 champion Joan Mir ended up a rather desperate P21 in the standings. Teammate Luca Marini was directly behind.

Honda did at least generate some optimism with the signing of Romano Albesiano from Aprilia. Albesiano’s arrival reflects a cultural shift inside the team, who are willing to embrace European working methods to catch up to KTM, Aprilia and ultimately Ducati.

Joan Mir thinks Honda are ‘much closer’ to their rivals – Luca Marini disagrees

Mir seemed deflated for much of last season, and understandably so. But he struck a markedly more upbeat tone as he spoke to Sky Italy after the final day of testing.

While he’s not yet ‘satisfied’ because the team are still missing ‘a lot’ of performance, he’s confident they’ve closed the gap. He’s enjoying the handling of the RC213V too, certainly relative to its predecessor.

“We have improved, I can ride better, the times are coming and we are much closer than before,” Mir said. “We have to be happy, I’m not satisfied yet because we certainly lack a lot.”

However, Marini didn’t sound as hopeful. In fact, he suggested that the gap had remained the same, largely because of Honda’s straight-line deficit – a conclusion supported by the speed-trap data.

“I think that at the moment the gap is the same as last year,” he said. “In these tests we improved braking and cornering, but we are missing the engine and top speed. These are the keys to having more potential in the future. I tried the new engine and it goes a little better, but we are far away.”

Johann Zarco believes Honda can gain huge chunk of time ‘for free’ with one change

Honda’s new test rider Aleix Espargaro was optimistic about the 2025 bike after the Shakedown. With Takaaki Nakagami and Stefan Bradl also at their disposal, and the freedom granted by their lowly concession rank, they should enjoy a steep development curve.

Mir seems to share Espargaro’s view for the moment. If the engine is the major issue, then it’s potentially vital that Honda aren’t subject to the freeze restricting Ducati, KTM and Aprilia.

Johann Zarco says Honda haven’t solved the vibration problems that plagued them in 2024. He believes there’s four-tenths of lap time available ‘for free’ if they can eradicate them.

The LCR rider led the way among the Honda quartet in last year’s championship. The only change to the line-up this year sees rookie Somkiat Chantra arrive in place of Nakagami.