Joan Mir seems to be more optimistic about improvements from Honda after last week’s test at Mugello – believing that progress will be made this summer.
Before the Catalunya GP, the Mallorcan spoke about the test: ‘We did many laps, it was a very productive test. We tried many things, especially in terms of aerodynamics. Then a different engine configuration. It was very productive. We won’t have what we asked for in the test here – so we will have a similar setup. But we are in the process of working. I think we will probably need this month and the two races we have at the end of June. Then we have another month [summer break], and I think from there we will take a step forward. I’m sure‘.
Asked about the new engine, Mir explained: ‘It was better, it helps the bike turn a bit more. That was an area where we lost our way a bit. But, on the other hand, the power changes a bit. They also have to work on the connection, so they have to put everything together a bit. We saw that we can have some positive things, but they need to work to make a proper step in the weak points. So, we are a bit in that right now‘.
As for the aerodynamics, the 2020 champion commented: ‘It was good, it was positive. It wasn’t a big evolution, but it was a step. I won’t use it here, I will probably use it in the next race because of homologation and so on. But we are following the steps‘.
Do evolutions impact only on the feeling or also on the stopwatch? Mir answered: ‘That’s a good question. To be translated into lap time, we also have to improve the weak points. Because at this moment it was better, in some areas much better, but in the end we lost many things in the weak points. If they can do the good things we have now with the good things we had in the past, then we will take a step and in terms of lap time we will feel it a lot‘.
