Marini shines on Friday in France
Le MansJust 0.05s separated Luca Marini from a spot in the top ten on Friday as the Italian stepped up to lead the Honda riders, Joan Mir less than 0.2s behind despite a crash.
Round six of the 2025 MotoGP World Championship was actioned packed from the first moments of morning practice, the crowd already filling the grandstands as the French GP looks to one up its own attendance record. Dark clouds didn’t stop the hard work of the Honda HRC Castrol squad on Friday as they continued on from Jerez.
Leading the Honda charge in 11th at the end of the day was Luca Marini. A best lap of 1’30.675 in the afternoon left him tantalizingly close – just 0.053s – to a direct Q2 trip, the #10 continuing to improve on the setup changes made during the Jerez Test. Finishing what he started and earning a place in Q2 is the primary objective for Saturday morning. Each GP weekend in 2025 has seen steady progress throughout for Marini, already challenging the top ten bodes well for the rest of the weekend.
A day of trials for Joan Mir, the #36 experimenting with different geometry throughout the morning. Not quite able to achieve what he was aiming for with the setting changes, he and his team adjusted the direction for the afternoon. Unfortunately, Mir fell at Turn 13 late in the afternoon session, sprinting back to the garage to return on his second Honda HRC Castrol machine. Even with the fall he managed a best lap of 1’30.821 and ended the day in 14th place.
Both Honda HRC Castrol riders enjoyed a boost to their performance after gains found during the Jerez Test. They’ll be looking to make the most of these on Saturday as both Marini and Mir enter the closely fought Q1 session at 10:50 Local Time. Then it will be all eyes on the Sprint, 13 Laps scheduled to begin at 15:00 Local Time.
At the end we have had a positive day, and we only missed Q2 by less than 0.1s in some ways it is harder when it’s like this! We confirmed the positive step from Jerez, and we are going in a good direction with development. Important to keep going like this, working closely with the engineers and I am really satisfied with what we have done so far from this side of things. The objective is to get to Q2 tomorrow, that’s how we will unlock a good race here.
At the end we have had a positive day, and we only missed Q2 by less than 0.1s in some ways it is harder when it’s like this! We confirmed the positive step from Jerez, and we are going in a good direction with development. Important to keep going like this, working closely with the engineers and I am really satisfied with what we have done so far from this side of things. The objective is to get to Q2 tomorrow, that’s how we will unlock a good race here.
Honestly a difficult day. We tried something different with the setup compared to before and it didn’t really work but at least we know for the future now. But we were able to make some improvements after that. The real pain was crashing and damaging the bike in the afternoon. I ran back and got on my second bike but didn’t have the same feeling to improve my time further. The positive is that I was within two tenths of being in Q2, it was a positive surprise and shows our potential. Tomorrow, we need to put it together but there is the room to improve a lot.
Honestly a difficult day. We tried something different with the setup compared to before and it didn’t really work but at least we know for the future now. But we were able to make some improvements after that. The real pain was crashing and damaging the bike in the afternoon. I ran back and got on my second bike but didn’t have the same feeling to improve my time further. The positive is that I was within two tenths of being in Q2, it was a positive surprise and shows our potential. Tomorrow, we need to put it together but there is the room to improve a lot.
It’s good to be back in MotoGP, our priority this weekend is working on a couple of key pieces, to confirm what Honda saw in Jerez with Aleix and during the test. Of course, you always want to be faster when you’re on track with everyone, but we are focused on our plan. Tonight I will check the data and see where we can improve to keep helping Honda as much as possible.
It’s good to be back in MotoGP, our priority this weekend is working on a couple of key pieces, to confirm what Honda saw in Jerez with Aleix and during the test. Of course, you always want to be faster when you’re on track with everyone, but we are focused on our plan. Tonight I will check the data and see where we can improve to keep helping Honda as much as possible.
