eleventh and twelfth for the Repsol Honda Workforce just isn’t going to go down within the crew’s historical past books as certainly one of its finest outcomes, however there was cause for optimism throughout the manufacturing facility HRC squad regardless of as soon as once more lacking the highest 10.
The optimism comes from upgrades delivered to the second Misano race — Emilia-Romagna coming two weeks after the San Marino Grand Prix — following the check on the circuit a few weeks earlier.
“A very good race, the primary time I might actually push and actually trip and revel in being on the bike,” stated Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir following final Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Mir ended up eleventh within the race, regardless of falling to the again firstly.
“I made a superb begin however then Raul [Fernandez] was fairly optimistic into the opening corners, so I went vast and dropped right down to final,” he stated.
“Then I bought my head down and began to overhaul, particularly within the second half of the race I used to be actually happy with my efficiency. Not simply the overtaking, but additionally the lap occasions which had been the identical as these guys within the high ten.
“eleventh is an efficient end result from the place we’re coming from and it’s actually good to see enhancements over the weekend. I’ve to additionally say thanks to my crew for his or her work this weekend, my first in Misano, they did a superb job to enhance the sensation in a single day. It’s encouraging and provides us all a lift as we head to Asia.”
Luca Marini, Joan Mir’s Repsol Honda teammate, additionally loved a constructive weekend at Misano, the Italian seeing advantages from current upgrades introduced by Honda to the RC213V and taking a season-best end in twelfth place.
“I’m actually proud of this weekend,” Marini stated. “I totally loved it and there are plenty of positives to remove from it. We’ve got discovered a superb bundle with the upgrades the Japanese have made; all the engineers have been making a superb effort and now we’re beginning to see it within the outcomes.
“The primary three laps with the rear are fairly difficult nonetheless, we have to work on this as a result of even beginning in fifteenth, we’re lacking one thing within the first laps and it stops us preventing with the others.
“The brand new aero has helped quite a bit, however now we have additionally improved plenty of different small areas in the previous couple of outings. We will head to Indonesia with optimism to proceed on this method. Thanks to everybody within the crew who has been working arduous and staying centered all yr.”
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco was capable of rating a single level in fifteenth regardless of a sequence of setbacks in his race.
“I had a greater race than I might count on,” Zarco instructed MotoGP.com. “I used to be feeling fairly sturdy at first of the race which is fairly good, and I did some good manoeuvres which makes me joyful.
“However then I couldn’t overtake Jack Miller — he was struggling, and I’ve misplaced time. Then [Joan] Mir got here again, and I did a mistake behind him.
“So, two errors: not overtaking Jack, and virtually hitting Joan Mir. So, I’ve misplaced plenty of time and I’ve tried to come back again in addition to attainable.
“I’m joyful that I caught some extent, which is vital if you end a weekend, at the very least you’ll be able to carry one thing residence.
“Honda did some progress and that’s constructive earlier than leaving for abroad races, the place I hope, with the expertise and having fun with the tracks, I may be near the highest 10.”