MotoGP: Repsol Honda Team pairing aim for improvements as French GP begins

A day focused on completing laps and collecting data for the Repsol Honda Team, Joan Mir and Luca Marini aiming to build over the course of the weekend. The pair finishing Friday in 18th and 21st respectively.

Sunshine and the prospect of another thrilling weekend of MotoGP had the crowds flooding into the Le Mans circuit from as early as Wednesday. With the stands and hills around the 4.19-kilometre-long circuit already filling up, the atmosphere was electric as practice began.

Joan Mir would end the day in 18th place overall, just 1.133 seconds shy of Jorge Martin who led the way. Steady improvements from himself and the Repsol Honda Team kept the #36 as the top Honda rider for the majority of the day. Feeling more confident with his race pace, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion still needs to work on improving his time attack performance to help secure a better grid position. Continuing this trend of progress and decreasing the gap to the front remains Mir’s primary goal.

Friday was a busy day for Luca Marini who completed 23 laps in the morning and a further 23 in the afternoon on his way to a best time of 1’31.860. Some three tenths behind his teammate, Marini and his side of the Repsol Honda Team garage continue to look for improvements in a few critical areas to make another step forward. Marini remains unwaveringly focused on the task at hand as he prepares for Saturday and Sunday in France.

Joan Mir
18TH 1’31.521
“Super tight lap times today and we are not that far, but improving that next second to first is not a simple job. We are working on it, making the most of the package that we have this weekend. The key is to focus on the positives and do our maximum – which is what we did today. So let’s keep it going.”

Luca Marini
21ST 1’31.860
“We need to focus on improving this weekend and arriving to Sunday’s race in the best way possible. That’s the format of how our year is going and we need to keep paying attention. Get faster, get stronger. The weather is nice this weekend, it would be great to keep the situation the same for the whole weekend so we can do the most work.”

• From Repsol Honda MotoGP / HRC Press Release