TT Circuit Assen
Red flag complicates Friday of potential for Honda HRC Castrol
Joan Mir and Luca Marini battled tight margins and hot conditions around the TT Circuit Assen as they target overnight improvements to close the gap to the top ten.
Europe’s heat wave continued as the TT Circuit Assen experienced record-breaking temperatures, pushing even some outright MotoGP temperature records. A physically demanding day, the Honda HRC Castrol duo diligently went about their business regardless. Steady progress throughout the day had both Joan Mir and Luca Marini in the mix for the top ten when the afternoon session began. A red flag with three minutes left in Practice conjured images of the iconic performance of Mick Doohan in 1998 at the very same circuit.
Joan Mir again raised some eyebrows as he set the fastest time through the first sector in the morning, ending Free Practice 1 in seventh place and only 0.240s shy of first. Sitting inside the top ten as the red flag came out after a strong session, Mir would fall foul of timing and slip to 12th overall – giving up direct passage to Q2. Mir’s best time of 1’31.825 put him just 0.125s from the top ten and 0.7s from fastest of the day Bezzecchi. Having set the majority of his times alone, the #36 still has some margin to play with on Saturday.
Starting Friday with a best lap of 1’33.267, Luca Marini cut 0.8s from his quickest single lap but struggled to make an impact in the final moments of Practice after the red flag was lifted. Wrapping up Friday in 18th overall, the Dutch GP weekend is looking more complicated than the Italian and his Honda HRC Castrol team were predicting but the #10 remains confident in finding improvements as the weekend progresses, exactly as happened last weekend in Brno.
Another busy night awaits Honda HRC's engineers and mechanics as they give their maximum to provide Mir and Marini with the tools they need to make it through Q1. From there, all eyes will be on the 13-lap Sprint at 15:00 Local Time.
Joan Mir 36 Honda HRC Castrol
“I expected to struggle here with the layout, and the last sector is still where we need to improve the most. In the first sector we are strong, so we need to understand how to adapt the bike. I was able to make the lap time alone today which isn’t easy, sure we missed out in the end with the red flag situation which can always happen. Tomorrow Q2 will be tight like always but I am confident that the team can make something more to fight for that top two because we were close to achieving our goal of the top ten."
Luca Marini 10 Honda HRC Castrol
“A tough day, no two ways about it. Some bad luck also which limited my running in the morning and then the flags in the afternoon. Even with this, we are further than we want to be and need to improve a few points, especially in the last sector. It’s possible to go to Q2 but we need to work a lot, already we have improved the rear grip today. Sure, it was hot today, but I don’t think the weather is having a huge impact on our situation. My fitness is something I do not doubt, so I am ready for whatever happens with the sky.”
