Repsol Honda Team start intensive Spanish GP work
Circuito de Jerez - Angel NietoJoan Mir and Luca Marini remained focused on the task ahead of them as they capitalised on all the available Friday track time in Jerez.
The fourth round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship got underway at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto as Joan Mir and Luca Marini completed 89 laps between them. Working diligently, the pair experimented with the respective setups of their Honda RC213V machines in the quest to close the gap to the front.
Ending the afternoon in 21st with a best time of 1’37.476, Mir was half a second faster than his best time from Friday in 2023. The #36 feels there is more to come tomorrow after a last-minute setting change improved his feeling in the afternoon. Keeping his expectations realistic, Mir and his side of the Repsol Honda Team garage have clear targets in mind to continue the progress of the weekend.
Luca Marini found the day more challenging as he finished with a best time of 1’37.838, some 0.4s back on his teammate. Comparing his data and setting to that of his fellow Honda riders, Marini is confident in finding more pace overnight. Saturday and Sunday present more opportunities to continue progressing.
Both riders will now contest Q1 on Saturday as they battle to define their grid positions for the Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Today was along the lines of what we were expecting after the first races. We are struggling with turning here unfortunately. We were able to make a good change with the setup of the bike in the afternoon and I feel like we can do a mid 36 – it’s a realistic goal with a bit here and a bit there. I felt better in the afternoon and I think this time is a realistic goal so let’s work with the team for it.
It’s a good feeling to be back riding with the rest of the MotoGP field, this helps to keep you sharp as a test rider and is also very beneficial to be on track with the other bikes. Like always, in the Test Team we are working on our things and have to have one eye on the race weekend and one eye on the future. We have started well and now we need to keep making more steps on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend has started in a similar way to the previous ones, maybe we were expecting a little bit more with the layout. We need to work on closing the gap, especially with new tyres because the other riders are able to make a gap there. Taka was strong today so it gives us something to look at and study overnight to make some more improvements. There are things to do and things to try.
