Honda Tim’s racer, Joan Mir, expressed regret for causing his teammate Luca Marini to crash out of the sprint race on Saturday at the Riccardo Tormo Circuit. This incident jeopardized Honda’s seemingly simple attempt to move up from Group D concessions, leaving no room for errors in Sunday’s Grand Prix Valencia – where Mir would have to take a Long Lap penalty.
Honda came into the weekend with an easy task in sight – moving up to Group C concessions. The goal set for the Valencia weekend was to secure nine points, with only the lead bike in each race counting towards the total points. However, Honda faced a tough challenge early in the sprint as Mir, starting in 10th position, lost ground on the opening lap and fell behind Marini, who was in 13th place. Both were out of the points as the 2020 MotoGP champion worked to recover at the start of the second lap, only to fall and collide with his teammate.
“It’s something you never want to happen,” Mir said. “I apologize to him, I apologize to the team, because this is not something I usually do, things like this. It was my mistake, but it wasn’t a crazy maneuver.” Johann Zarco, an independent LCR Honda racer, failed to redeem the zero time record achieved by the factory team in the Sprint Race, finishing outside the points in 10th place.
Both the second LCR Honda racer and the rider who always trails behind, Somkiat Chantra, have a great chance of scoring points on Sunday, while development rider Aleix Espargaro is ineligible for points due to his wildcard status. All of this means that the responsibility is on either Mir, Marini, or Zarco to finish at least seventh in the last race of the year on Sunday. Although Mir is the highest qualifier of the three, his chances have been hit by the Long Lap Penalty.
While the pressure will not compare to the time Mir won the world title at the same circuit five years ago, this added tension will bring unexpected drama for Honda. “If you asked me on Thursday if there would be a problem to get nine points or something like this, I would say ‘maybe not’,” he said. “But now, I have to do a good race tomorrow to try to lose (the concessions).”
“This weekend we have had more problems than we expected. Myself, my teammate, we struggled harder than we expected on this track. That’s the reality.” Both the factory riders and HRC team boss Alberto Puig have been clear about their desire to move out of Group D concessions, even if it means losing testing and development freedoms.
