Honda HRC Castrol work to find their British GP form
Silverstone CircuitAn intense Friday in Silverstone had Joan Mir and Luca Marini in the mix from the start, ultimately ending the day in 12th and 16th as narrow margins again made the difference.
A picture-perfect British Spring day opened the Grand Prix of the United Kingdom on the outskirts of Towcester, the Honda HRC Castrol team eagerly rolling out of pit lane to start another weekend of MotoGP action. With the addition of Aleix Espargaro as a wild card, Friday would be a busy day of data gathering for Honda HRC’s engineers.
Joan Mir was able to run without any major issues after his heavy fall in France, the #36 able to continue challenging the front runners throughout both sessions. Concluding Friday with a best lap of 1’57.917, two seconds faster than his Qualifying time from 2024, left Mir to rue an issue on his final run which stopped him from defending his spot in the top ten. Less than a tenth of a second from the top ten, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion will do battle in Q1 tomorrow and clearly has the speed to challenge for a transfer spot with his pace on long runs being amongst the best in the field.
On the other side of the Honda HRC Castrol garage, Luca Marini improved his time by over a second and a half between the morning and the afternoon. Missing out on the top ten, Marini and his team focused on the information gathered and will look to apply it tomorrow for further gains. The Italian continues to work on finding these crucial final tenths to regularly join the mix for the top ten and with today’s learnings will be in the mix with his teammate come Q1 on Saturday morning.
Action resumes on Friday at 11:10 Local Time with Free Practice 2 before a critical Q1 session at 11:50 Local Time. Once the grid is set, the MotoGP Sprint is scheduled to run over 10 laps at 16:00 Local Time.
During the day and especially this afternoon I was feeling great with the bike. My pace was really good, and I knew I had the speed to go to Q2 but in the last exit the situation changed a bit as I went with the soft front. I think tomorrow we won’t encounter what happened today, so I am not worried. I improved the lap time but missed those last three tenths to go direct to Q2. I am happy with my riding and how the bike is, so this is the positive to focus on from today – we know what we can achieve.
During the day and especially this afternoon I was feeling great with the bike. My pace was really good, and I knew I had the speed to go to Q2 but in the last exit the situation changed a bit as I went with the soft front. I think tomorrow we won’t encounter what happened today, so I am not worried. I improved the lap time but missed those last three tenths to go direct to Q2. I am happy with my riding and how the bike is, so this is the positive to focus on from today – we know what we can achieve.
We learned a lot today about what we need to unluck our full potential and this is always very important. Now with this data we can prepare well for Q1 tomorrow and aim to be in the fight. Just a few tenths missing at the end of the afternoon, I did my best lap on the third of the run so just missing a little bit with the grip and the drive. Let’s see the weather tomorrow for Q1, we will keep fighting like always and it’s clear there is potential there in the bike. Everything is so close, especially to get to Q2, we need to make that final step.
We learned a lot today about what we need to unluck our full potential and this is always very important. Now with this data we can prepare well for Q1 tomorrow and aim to be in the fight. Just a few tenths missing at the end of the afternoon, I did my best lap on the third of the run so just missing a little bit with the grip and the drive. Let’s see the weather tomorrow for Q1, we will keep fighting like always and it’s clear there is potential there in the bike. Everything is so close, especially to get to Q2, we need to make that final step.
It’s good to be back with the Test Team to continue the positive work we have been doing. Already since Jerez we have seen a step forward and you can really feel Honda’s efforts. Today we were able to try some interesting things for the future, and I hope that the factory team can get these items soon. Let’s keep focused on our job and see what we can achieve tomorrow at one of my favourite tracks!
It’s good to be back with the Test Team to continue the positive work we have been doing. Already since Jerez we have seen a step forward and you can really feel Honda’s efforts. Today we were able to try some interesting things for the future, and I hope that the factory team can get these items soon. Let’s keep focused on our job and see what we can achieve tomorrow at one of my favourite tracks!
