Marco Bezzecchi
Michael Laverty has labelled Joan Mir’s apparent move from Honda to Gresini for the 2027 MotoGP season as ‘interesting’.
On Friday afternoon, ahead of the second practice session at the Catalan Grand Prix, it was claimed that Mir will sign with Gresini for 2027 and 2028.
After winning the MotoGP world title in 2020 with Suzuki, Mir has been with Honda since 2023.
However, the 28-year-old’s contract with Honda is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season, and he is now set to join the Ducati satellite team.
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Michael Laverty reacts as Joan Mir agrees Gresini move for 2027
Reacting live on TNT Sports during the second practice session, former MotoGP rider Laverty branded the potential move as ‘interesting’.
The Northern Irishman went on to say that Mir has become a little bit of a ‘crashing machine’ at Honda and urged the Spaniard to ‘unlock’ the performances which took him to the 2020 world title.
Laverty said: “They are usually fairly accurate. It is an interesting signing. Joan Mir, Ducati, assuming Gresini stay with Ducati, we think that will happen.
“The switch for him from a Honda, where he has been a bit of a crashing machine, previous to that on the Suzuki, he barely crashed at all, so he needs something different.
“It’s got to be said he undoubtedly has got the speed, you don’t win world championships and not have something special, but Joan Mir needs to unlock it at the moment.”
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Joan Mir claims Honda can fight for podium finishes in 2026
Despite scoring just eight points so far in 2026, Mir claimed that Honda have been ‘quite competitive’ for the package they have.
Mir said to Motorsport: “As you can imagine, I think that we’ve been quite competitive for the package that we actually have, but for some reason we couldn’t put the result together.
“I crashed so much in the first races. We were fighting for the podium, like in Austin in the sprint, and in all the races we’ve been always inside the top 5, top 6, despite Jerez, for many reasons.
“I see that there is potential. The shame is that we have Ducati and Aprilia, and there are a lot of bikes, and that’s a bit the thing.
“I know that if, maybe in a GP, everything comes together, and we put everything on point, then we can fight for the podium, but we cannot for the championship.”
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