Joan Mir emerged today at the end of the first day of testing in Sepang with mixed feelings, after setting the 14th fastest time. While there are some positive points, overall he did not feel a clear improvement from Honda. However, considering the work and effort being put in, his prospects are good.
In his first analysis of the work he did, Mir started by not showing particular happiness, thus taking a somewhat reserved stance: ‘Today we took a slightly different direction, we didn’t improve the base of the bike, the base we had in the Shakedown, and I didn’t feel comfortable. It’s only the first day and that’s what makes me a little calmer because if it were the last day and I had these sensations, it certainly wouldn’t be the best. We have to compare the data. We improved a lot in sectors three and four, we are very close to the top, but then in sectors one and two we are losing and that’s strange because we were fast and we need to understand what’s going on. Maybe we were a little worse in braking today, the sensations with the front… and that’s not helping us in the first two sectors.’
The Spanish rider from Repsol Honda Team believes that he is still closer to reaching “the limit” and being able to extract important tenths of a second: ‘Then, on the other hand, in the most important aspect, we are fast so we have to analyze these things because that’s why we’re here. We’ll see tomorrow, fortunately we have fewer things to test, and we’ll be focused on the details that, in the end, are what make you feel those last tenths with the bike and the last part, the ultimate limit that you can reach and that can give you more.’
About feeling that the direction taken is the right one, Mir believes that everyone is making an effort and it is precisely that part that gives him hope for improvement, even though currently he is not in the desired position:
– Honestly, I was happy [at the end of the Valencia tests in 2023] and I continue to be happy because I feel that the work they are doing is good, they are working hard and that is something I value, but the truth is that at the moment we are not where we want to be. I want to be optimistic. Last year was very, very tough for me and I don’t want to think that we can solve this situation with a couple of tests because I believe there is a long way to go, to continue improving and everything else. We are not where I would like us to be, so I can’t be very, very happy.
