Honda shoot down rumours of swapping Alex Rins and Joan Mir
The former Suzuki teammates, who both switched Japanese manufacturers this winter, have experienced very differing starts to their seasons.
Rins won Honda’s first grand prix in two years, and their first since 2018 from a rider other than Marc Marquez, in Texas last time out while Mir has failed to finish three out of six races so far.
LCR Honda team manager Lucio Cecchinello was asked by Speedweek to respond to claims from Oscar Haro, the former LCR sporting director, that Rins and Mir could be swapped around.
"This is nonsense,” Cecchinello replied. “Such a team change is out of the question. I can guarantee that."
Paco Sanchez, Mir’s manager, added: "Oscar Haro has no idea."
Repsol Honda rider Mir, the 2020 champion with Suzuki, currently sits 42 points behind fellow LCR’s Rins in the MotoGP standings.
The perception of Honda’s hopes for 2023 were blown apart by Rins in Texas, when he took advantage of an error from Francesco Bagnaia to claim an unlikely win.
The irony being that Honda’s brightest day for more than a year came with their star man Marc Marquez on the sidelines.
The Spanish MotoGP this weekend will be a homecoming race for Rins, Mir and Marquez.
Mir was given a major vote of confidence by Repsol team manager Alberto Puig: “We at HRC believe that his potential is at least equal to that of Rins, because they raced together in the same team for many years and you saw the results.”
