Autódromo Internacional de Goiânia – Ayrton Senna
Marini pleased with Brazil points, Mir falls from the front
Reduced to 23-laps due to track condition, the first Brazilian GP in over 20 years did not disappoint the record-breaking crowd. Luca Marini once again battled through the field to 11th while his Honda HRC Castrol teammate suffered an unfortunate fall while in a strong seventh place.
A full house at the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna was met with ideal conditions as morning clouds quickly parted to reveal sunshine as the grid formed. With a last-minute decision to reduce the race distance from 31 to 23 laps, the Honda HRC Castrol squad reacted quickly to put both Luca Marini and Joan Mir in the best situation possible when the lights went out.
Once again starting well from 19th, Marini immediately put himself into contention for the points paying positions and fought hard to overtake around the tight and technical 3.84-kilometre-long circuit. Jousting with Quartararo and chasing down Raul Fernandez gave Marini important insights into his rivals and their machines. Crossing the line in 11th place earned five points, made sweeter given the unfortunate start he had to the weekend. Marini heads to Round 3 in 12th overall.
Joan Mir was able to make another inspiring start to the race, propelling himself well into the top ten and sitting comfortably on the rear of Alex Marquez. In prime position to progress further and challenge for the top five, the #36 suffered an unexpected front-end crash which took him out of contention. A second disappointing result, Mir took solace in his undeniable speed and is targeting an Austin comeback.
The MotoGP World Championship will now travel some 7,300 kilometres north-west to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. A traditionally happy hunting ground for the Honda RC213V, both Marini and Mir are arriving hungry.
Luca Marini 10 Honda HRC Castrol
“When we look at the whole weekend, especially the difficulties on Friday and Saturday morning that we had, 11th place after starting 19th is a more positive result than maybe it seems. I made a good start today, but the others started better than yesterday so we could not gain these early positions to put us higher. Reducing the race distance did not change so much for us. My pace was similar to that of sixth place, and I had an enjoyable race battling with other riders. We still need to keep working, we are faster but still need more to improve over the course of a weekend and stay with the other riders.”
Joan Mir 36 Honda HRC Castrol
“I made a strong start and was already able to make up three or four positions, putting myself in the top ten and settling into seventh place quite early. Our pace was good and the group ahead was not escaping, saving my tyres behind Alex Marquez. At this track the front is quite critical and after ten laps, we were struggling with the right side. I lost the front without any warning, very strange and unexcepted this feeling. We were being conservative, not really pushing, but racing can be like this and now we put a hard weekend in Brazil behind us. The good point is that we showed our speed and my physical condition is improving already for Austin.”
