Friday form continues for Honda HRC Castrol at home GP
Consistency is key in racing and the Honda HRC Castrol team have certainly found their Friday speed. Joan Mir and Luca Marini produced their strongest Friday showing to date on the Honda RC213V.
A combination of perfect weather conditions enhanced the performance of all five Honda RC213V machines.
This created a rewarding day for Honda HRC’s guests and fans at Mobility Resort Motegi. The home ground boost, along with significant work by Honda HRC’s engineering team, was certainly felt as the factory team put in their best Friday performance to date. Both riders sailed directly into Q2.
After a somewhat subdued morning in 12th place, Joan Mir exploded with progress in the afternoon. He was regularly able to challenge for the top three. Ultimately setting a best time of 1’43.361, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion was just 0.001s shy of Marc Marquez and less than 0.2s from the top spot.
An impressive first step for Mir around the braking-heavy Motegi circuit. The #36 was able to put all the pieces together when it mattered most at the end of Friday afternoon. Carrying this form into both the Sprint and the Grand Prix is the overall objective for this weekend.
Luca Marini was at the sharp end of the timing sheets immediately.
He was fifth in Free Practice 1 before improving his time by over a second and a half in the afternoon. Sixth come evening, Marini has already confirmed his spot inside the top 12 on the grid. This is a vital first waypoint in a modern MotoGP weekend.
The Italian is confident in his pace over longer runs. He continued to work on taking the maximum from new tyres in qualifying. A close fight is already brewing for Saturday morning’s shoot out.
With renewed vigour after a strong result, Honda HRC’s engineers will continue working diligently. They aim to give all Honda HRC riders on the grid the best possible setup to battle on Saturday and Sunday.
“We start again with a lot of potential, more than in Misano and that’s a really positive start. There were some questions marks around today after missing a lot of Misano and not being there for the test. Today we put everything together when we only had one tyre, one shot, but we made everything, so I am happy. Let’s keep it up, it’s an extra motivation being here with all of the Honda support around. Now we need to work hard overnight because come Q2 tomorrow, everything will be very tight.”
“A really positive first day here in Motegi, our feeling already from FP1 was good and I’ve been able to be quick throughout both sessions. With the base already working well, we were able to keep focusing on the bike and I was able to comfortably stay inside the top ten. Honda has worked really hard to prepare enough new parts so now we have the same spec on both bikes which makes everything a little bit easier. We still have room for improvement, especially under braking we can make a step. Now our target shifts to taking the maximum from Qualifying because with the higher temperatures of the weekend, starting ahead will be critical.”