The Repsol Honda Team walk away from the Aragon GP with small rewards for a long weekend of intense work, Joan Mir crossing the line in 15th while Luca Marini salvages 17th.
Track conditions were the talk of the paddock once again on Sunday in Aragon. A wet morning Warm Up due to overnight rains introduced an extra element of unpredictability into the MotoGP race-day mix. Luca Marini shone in the conditions, ending seventh with teammate Joan Mir in 16th. As the sun roared in the sky, it was clear the race would be dry.
Starting the race just behind his Repsol Honda Team teammate, Joan Mir was immediately on the move as the lights went out on the 23-lap race. Working hard to stay with the group, the race would be one largely of self-focus for Mir as he worked to extract the maximum possible information from the weekend. Incidents further ahead would see the 2020 MotoGP World Champion moved up into the points and cross the line in 15th.
From 20th on the grid, Luca Marini was eager to make the most of the ever-improving conditions. Compromised with an issue on the line, Marini would start the race already out of contention for points. Despite this, the Italian diligently kept his head down and went to work lap after lap – running his own race where more data was the focus. Lapping steadily in the 1’50s, his pace showed he had the speed to battle with his teammate in the group fighting for points. The Italian is hoping for a home boost from local fans at the next race to break his run of bad luck.
A highlight of Sunday for the entire MotoGP paddock was seeing 1999 500cc World Champion Alex Criville reunited with his title-winning Honda NSR500 for a lap of honour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Spain’s first Premier Class World Champion.
There isn’t long to wait for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship as the Repsol Honda Team pack up and immediately head to Misano for Round 13 – the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. A key one-day test will follow the race, Honda HRC primed to take full advantage of the extra day of running before the championship begins its end of year sprint.
Joan Mir
15th
“Today in the race we tried something really, really different on the bike to try and fix some issues we have been having. The sort of change that you can’t normally make during a weekend. It was not the direction to follow, but it has helped us to understand a lot of things. It’s something really good that we were able to try and the information we have will help in the long term. I am struggling mostly on corner entry where I was strong before so this is one thing to work on as well.”
Luca Marini
17th
“The start of the race today is something we need to investigate because obviously it meant we were out of contention, I had to come back into the pit lane. It’s a pity because we are really getting closer and closer, making progress every session but we are not making the most of opportunities – we had the chance to score good points today with what happened ahead. My laps were similar to the other Honda riders which shows we could have been there without the start. Now we go to Misano which is a completely different track.”
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