Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Marini makes up ground as Mir’s luck runs dry again
Starting Saturday with a first place, Honda HRC Castrol were eager to show their speed at the Catalan GP as Luca Marini made positive progress and luck abandoned Joan Mir.
Hard work from Luca Marini’s side of the Honda HRC Castrol garage turned around a disappointing morning into a more positive Sprint race. Starting in 16th on the grid, Marini followed Mir to the left-hand side of the circuit to gain more positions through Turn 1. Avoiding the incident which would take down his teammate, Marini began to contest the points paying positions alongside the likes of Bagnaia and Bezzecchi. As his tyres dropped, Marini defended his position as best as possible and crossed the line in 11th – just a second shy of points.
Leading the first session of the day, all eyes were firmly on Joan Mir as he and the Honda RC213V set the pace on Saturday at the Catalan GP. Having already earned a Q2 spot, Mir was hopeful of continuing this early speed, but another nail-bitingly close session would see the #36 only earn tenth on the grid. With a point to prove, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion went for the outside line through Turn 1 as the Sprint began but lady lucky would forgo Mir as contact with another rider sent Brad Binder into the side of his Honda RC213V. Mir was unharmed in the crash.
The main event, the 24-lap Catalan Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 14:00 Local Time with the weather only set to improve further.
Luca Marini 10 Honda HRC Castrol
“On one hand I am satisfied because we were able to make a huge step forward compared to yesterday and this morning. We were able to match the lap times of Zarco in the race thanks to some good changes on the bike. But it is true that this year it is harder for us here than last year, there is less grip from the circuit and we are quite limited. With a new tyre, I am able to stay with the likes of Pecco, Franco and Bezz but then our grip starts to fade. With an even better start we can maybe gain another spot, but the top ten remains the target.”
Joan Mir 36 Honda HRC Castrol
“A really unlucky day with what happened in the Sprint. Our problem started before in the second time attack. We did one time attack with one bike and the second with the other and my feeling wasn’t the same so I couldn’t take 100% from the new tyre and because of this we were in tenth instead of in the top five. If I was able to start inside the top five, we can avoid this kind of bad luck. A shame because I know the speed we can show here. Let’s try tomorrow.”
