Best Honda Qualifying for Marini, Mir focuses on Sunday
Misano World Circuit Marco SimoncelliA day of two halves for Luca Marini who went from a Honda career best of sixth on the grid to a solid seventh in the Sprint, his teammate Joan Mir missing Saturday’s action after his crash on Friday afternoon.
All eyes were on Luca Marini as Saturday dawned at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for Qualifying and the Sprint, ideal conditions holding strong during the entire day. Third in Free Practice 2, the #10 continued to show a new level of speed and consistency which was converted to a sixth place start with a thrilling last-minute lap in Q2. His 1’30.390 was a full second and a half faster than his qualifying time from 2024 and with the pole time only improving by 0.1s, the steps forward for Marini and the Honda RC213V were evident. This is Marini’s best Qualifying as a Honda HRC rider to date.
In the Sprint, Marini put up a strong fight against the likes of Acosta and Aldeguer as he worked to stay with the leaders. A change in feeling compared to the morning saw Marini limited in his overall performance, crossing the line in seventh place.
Joan Mir elected to miss Saturday’s running in San Marino after experiencing continued discomfort and a lack of mobility in his neck following his fall on Friday. With an extra day of rest and physiotherapy, Mir is aiming to race on Sunday.
It’s a good result today when we look at our performance for the whole year, but after our feeling in the morning, honestly, I was hoping for more. We improved the bike compared to Friday but in the Sprint, everything felt worse and with the change in the wind, I wasn’t as strong as in the morning. When the conditions are perfect, we are able to be really close to the front, but if there is something missing, we still have some margin to close. The start will be crucial tomorrow, and I hope to improve that from today. Like I said, it’s important to look at the big picture of the season and the last 12 months and we need to be proud of the work we have done so far. I am confident we can do more tomorrow.
It’s a good result today when we look at our performance for the whole year, but after our feeling in the morning, honestly, I was hoping for more. We improved the bike compared to Friday but in the Sprint, everything felt worse and with the change in the wind, I wasn’t as strong as in the morning. When the conditions are perfect, we are able to be really close to the front, but if there is something missing, we still have some margin to close. The start will be crucial tomorrow, and I hope to improve that from today. Like I said, it’s important to look at the big picture of the season and the last 12 months and we need to be proud of the work we have done so far. I am confident we can do more tomorrow.
