Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
Points for Mir and double-recovering Marini in Mugello
Spirited rides from Joan Mir and Luca Marini saw them take the fight to the top ten, offering points and positive data after a tough weekend for Honda HRC Castrol.
A record-breaking crowd flocked to Mugello for a hotly anticipated Italian Grand Prix, the Honda HRC Castrol team expecting a hard race in the hot conditions. Engineers from Honda HRC had continued to work busily through the night to find improvements for both Joan Mir and Luca Marini, morning Warm Up giving the pair an opportunity to assess the changes.
From 15th on the grid, Joan Mir maintained his position in the melee of the opening laps, battling early on with his teammate and several of the Yamaha riders. Finding some clean air and space on track, the #36 settled into his race rhythm and was able to make steady progress towards Moreira and Binder battling for the top ten. A three-way battle for top Honda honours erupted between Mir, Marini and Moreira with the LCR rider grabbing an advantage right at the end of the race. Ending in 12th, Mir leaves Mugello with another race finish and a wealth of data heading to Hungary.
A rocket ship start saw Luca Marini gain seven positions from 19th on the grid over the course of just a single lap as he immediately set his sights on the top ten. Unfortunately, he would be sent wide just a few laps later by Raul Fernandez, running into the gravel at Turn 10 and having to restart his comeback again. Head down, the #10 joined his teammate and Diogo Moreira in battling for top Honda honours but would ultimately have to settle for 13th as his charges through the field took the best of his tyre life.
The dash to Hungary starts straight away for Honda HRC Castrol and the rest of the MotoGP World Championship, another race weekend right around the corner.
Joan Mir 36 Honda HRC Castrol
“We’ve had a tough weekend, so we can take some positives from the end of today. I kept my cool at the start and worked on settling into my own pace, avoiding any crazy risks. Step by step I was able to move forward and close in on the top ten which I knew was our maximum given the overall feeling of the weekend. Like this I reached the group battling for the top ten and started battling with them, but I didn’t quite have enough tyre left under me to take the maximum from this battle. Diogo and I had a good battle, and I am happy to bring the bike home.”
Luca Marini 10 Honda HRC Castrol
“An amazing start and first few corners this race meant I was able to gain a lot of positions and I was feeling really comfortable on the bike, my position on track, everything because it wasn’t easy. On lap four or so I got sent into the gravel by Fernandez and I had to do everything again, pushing a lot to catch Mir and Moreira. When I arrived to them the front right of the tyre was finished and no matter what I tried I couldn’t do more. It’s a pity because before the incident I was in a good position, this is racing and the positive is that we were able to recover twice. We try again in Hungary.”
