Mir ‘cannot be competitive in any area’ with current Honda MotoGP bike

Honda rider Joan Mir feels he ‘cannot be competitive in any area’ with the RC213V in MotoGP as his miserable run in 2024 continues.

Mir was initially upbeat about a new engine configuration that Honda debuted at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend but was left to accept the sad “reality” at the Japanese manufacturer come Sunday.

In a dry race where all riders were on the same tyres, the 2020 champion finished a distant 17th on the best of the factory Honda bikes, almost four seconds slower than Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez in the final points-paying position.

While the result itself was a major disappointment, the Spaniard was particularly dejected as he struggled in every department compared to his immediate rivals, losing time under braking, acceleration and also due to tyre wear.

The 26-year-old suggested that he is helpless with the way things are at Honda, as he cannot push himself to the maximum due to the limitations he is facing on its bike.

“[It is] difficult to have worse feelings than what I had. I cannot see any positive areas,” he said. “We have a lot of vibrations. It’s getting more and more and on tracks like this one, [it has] probably has been the worst one.

“I cannot see a specific area where I can be competitive. That’s the reality. It was a challenge to stay on the bike.

“On braking in straights, I was locking the bike, I was locking the front a lot. That was limiting me from braking later.

“But then just before opening the throttle, my bike was spinning and then you open the throttle and just ‘float’ – you have a constant floating feeling like you cannot control [the bike].

“Then the drop of the tyre is bigger than the others and you overheat the tyres more than the others, so you cannot control [the bike].

“Also, [at] the beginning of the race I was going with the group, I had to slow down because my front [tyre] pressure was to the moon – not really able to push, that’s the reality.”

Honda was one of the three manufacturers along with Yamaha and KTM to complete two private days of running at Misano this week, with Mir allowed to put in some laps behind the RC213V due to the concessions the Tokyo-based manufacturer has received under the regulations.

The test precedes a run of five MotoGP rounds in six weekends between late August and early October, which also includes a Dorna-organised track day between the two Misano weekends.

Mir stressed that the extra track time will be important for Honda in trying out new updates and designing the next version of the bike for 2025.

“We have now quite a busy schedule, we have to try, we have to test in Misano on Wednesday, one day then in Aragon, we will try more things, then Misano race and Misano [official] test again,” he said.

“We will try more things, different engine configurations. We will try something to help on the grip and some big things that can help us to understand what the direction is for next year to let them [Honda] work and let them have a bit more time to bring one thing that works.”

Apart from Mir, Honda has also been tapping into the experience of LCR recruit Johann Zarco, who spent the last four seasons riding Ducati machinery, to come out of the doldrums in MotoGP.

Asked what approach Honda should take in the coming months, Zarco said it’s imperative for the fallen Japanese giant to have a strong baseline for the RC213V before it starts throwing new parts on the bike.

“Ducati has been trying a lot of things in the past but now for three years everything works,” he said. “It seems like they bring parts but they have a base that works so well.

“So when you have a base you can bring everything [and] everything is working. The weak point of the Honda now is the base and as soon as we don’t create a real base, you can try everything on the wrong base and it will be wrong.

“They are trying a lot of things, maybe less visible than what Ducati or KTM are doing, the European brands are doing, but they are never stopping. When you see from close it’s quite impressive all the work which is done.”

Additional reporting by German Garcia Casanova and Lorenza D’Adderio