Mir on pace in Le Mans, Marini has more to show
Le MansAll four Honda riders featured heavily on Friday of the French GP, Luca Marini leading Free Practice 1 and Honda HRC Castrol teammate Joan Mir making the Q2 cut with an impressive afternoon session.
Round five of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship season produced Honda HRC’s best Friday performance with a Honda RC213V leading both of the day’s sessions. The strong showing has created no false illusions, the Honda HRC Castrol squad aware that every single lap will count this weekend especially as dramatic weather changes loom on the horizon.
Ending the day fifth fastest overall and just 0.185s shy of Friday’s leader Johann Zarco, Joan Mir was able to hit the ground running in France and immediately showcase his speed. Improving his morning time by 1.3 seconds, the 2020 World Champion was able to keep pace with those around him and show the benefits and learnings brought from the Jerez Test. A strong feeling with the front end of his Honda has been key to this consistent speed.
Luca Marini started Friday in the best possible way, leading morning Practice and heading into the crucial afternoon session with ever-growing confidence. A small mistake on his first qualifying stint and traffic on his second severely limited his potential and Marini was only able to improve his best time by 0.4s, ending Friday down in 16th and heading for an interesting Q1 session. The speed shown by his fellow Honda riders has Marini remaining confident for whatever comes on Saturday.
“We’ve been strong today and I feel that I am making a lot of the difference. The line we found in the test is working well here and I am riding well. Feeling on the front is crucial here in Le Mans, it’s hard to achieve but we have managed to find it. Making it directly into Q2 makes our lives much easier, not having to come from the back allows us to ride in a calmer way in the races so I want to maximise this opportunity. Looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday, I want to give the fans something to cheer about.”
“We’ve been strong today and I feel that I am making a lot of the difference. The line we found in the test is working well here and I am riding well. Feeling on the front is crucial here in Le Mans, it’s hard to achieve but we have managed to find it. Making it directly into Q2 makes our lives much easier, not having to come from the back allows us to ride in a calmer way in the races so I want to maximise this opportunity. Looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday, I want to give the fans something to cheer about.”
“A big pity today, I made a mistake on our first tyre and then on the second tyre a yellow flag, traffic, the same things that can always happen. Overall, our Friday has been good, in the morning we were really strong and I was confident of having this pace also in the afternoon so it’s a shame. Still, we need to improve our feeling when we push for that one qualifying lap on a new tyre. Zarco did a great job, so we will check his data and see what can be improved upon. Compared to last year, Honda as a whole has made a step and you can see this today. Always in Le Mans the weather is a wildcard, so let’s see.”
“A big pity today, I made a mistake on our first tyre and then on the second tyre a yellow flag, traffic, the same things that can always happen. Overall, our Friday has been good, in the morning we were really strong and I was confident of having this pace also in the afternoon so it’s a shame. Still, we need to improve our feeling when we push for that one qualifying lap on a new tyre. Zarco did a great job, so we will check his data and see what can be improved upon. Compared to last year, Honda as a whole has made a step and you can see this today. Always in Le Mans the weather is a wildcard, so let’s see.”
