Joan Mir amid ongoing struggles at Honda: “Everyone in HRC is working hard”

With Honda still at the bottom of the pecking order in MotoGP, gathering further data during this weekend’s Mugello grand prix before the official test on Monday will be crucial.

Honda needs all the test time they can get and Joan Mir is hoping to extract the ‘maximum possible’.

Mir said: “We have this race and a test before a bit of a break in the calendar. I want to extract the maximum possible from this weekend to recover from the tricky weekend we had in Barcelona.

“Everyone in the team and in HRC are working hard to make improvements and continue development.

“We have some ideas already from the test we had here, so let’s keep on going and enjoy riding.”

Luca Marini ‘excited’ for first Mugello MotoGP as a factory rider

Luca Marini was again last of Honda’s four full-time MotoGP riders in Catalunya, finishing two seconds down on Johann Zarco.

Marini’s start to life at Honda has been torrid, with the Italian yet to score a single point in 2024.

That stat means the former Ducati rider is the only full-time rider yet to open his account, however, the Honda rider believes steps were made in Barcelona.

Speaking ahead of this weekend, Marini said: “Your home GP is always something nice and I am really excited to go there as a factory Honda rider for the first time.

“I really want to enjoy the weekend with the Italian fans and enjoy their support.

“We made progress in Barcelona and I know that we can keep building on what we found during our private Mugello test for this coming weekend.

“It’s all about making this progress at each round and continuing to feel better and better.

“You can understand a lot about a bike around Mugello so the weekend, and post-race test, will be very useful for us.”