Honda ‘concept’ provides 'direction' for Joan Mir

Unimpressed by Stefan Bradl’s latest test bike at a recent private Catalunya outing, Joan Mir moved straight to a mysterious new Honda ‘concept’ during Monday’s official Jerez MotoGP test.

The lack of visible changes compared to his standard machine meant many suspected a revised engine was the key change for the ‘different concept’.

Either way, Mir described the day as much more positive than his 21st place on the timesheets looked.

While providing few details, the Spaniard believes the concept used is “the direction I want to take for the future.”

That’s because the 2020 world champion already felt a much-needed improvement in the RCV’s turning weakness and “there is still a lot of margin to improve.”

However, Mir warned the turning came at the cost of performance in other areas and that the ‘concept’ is very much for the future, not the present.

Repsol team-mate Luca Marini seemed to test one of the new Bradl chassis, with his standard aero, during 72 laps. The Italian was 23rd fastest.

"We have been able to do a lot for the future. We are still far from where we need to be, but Honda is not resting,” Marini said.

Bradl’s wild-card bikes appeared to be given to LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco to try at the test.