Joan Mir: “I never had doubts that Honda will be back”

After waiting 50 grands prix for a first Honda MotoGP podium, Joan Mir celebrated his second in four rounds during Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Mir began the grand prix after suffering yet another retirement in the Saturday’s Sprint, where he crashed out of a fighting fourth place.

What might have been was underlined further when Fermin Aldeguer was demoted from the Sprint podium by a post-race tyre-pressure penalty.

Mir admitted he was feeling the pressure not to suffer yet another DNF as he made early progress from seventh to fifth in the grand prix.

“I knew what was possible after yesterday, but that line between crashing and being fast is very narrow with our bike,” Mir explained.

“I have to use more the front. I have to brake a little bit harder, go into the corner with slightly more commitment than the others. And it's easier to make a mistake.

“You take more risk than the others and I didn’t want to see another ‘Mir Out’! I wanted to finish, but with a podium.”

After passing Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, Mir looked set to miss out on a rostrum until a late puncture for Francesco Bagnaia.

“You only get that type of luck when you are fighting for it,” said Mir.

“I was controlling Morbidelli but when I saw Pecco struggling I went with everything I had.”

After scoring just 26 points in his debut 2023 Honda season, then 21 last year, the mutual faith shown by Mir and Honda has started to pay off.

“I never had doubts that Honda will be back,” Mir told the official MotoGP website.

“That’s why in the worst scenario, I renewed for two more years [2025 and 2026].

“I trust this project and these people. When we trust each other these things happen, this is the reality, just a matter of time and work.

“This podium is also for them.

“We have to be super happy with all the work that we’ve done not only from last year but the three years that I’ve been in Honda.

“It’s not something short-term. It’s about long-term work. Giving information to engineers, working together, trying to build up a competitive package.

“Now we have to enjoy the moment.”

The big question now is when Mir can fight for a MotoGP victory, having been absent from the top step since his 2020 title-winning campaign at Suzuki.

“That I don't know. To start running, we have to walk first,” Mir said. “It’s important that we consolidate these podium places, because now I feel like we finish on the podium or we finish on the ground!

“We have to improve that. Try to make the bike a little bit more stable, try to improve slightly more the grip. This will make a bike that you don’t have to push at like 150% for all the laps, because it’s so easy to make a mistake.

“To improve the package will be difficult, but I think that we have margin. The engineers are very good and I trust a lot Honda and the effort that they are making to be back on top as soon as possible.

“But first of all, before winning I would like to be more constantly in these places.”

The HRC team’s last win was by Marc Marquez at Misano in 2021.

The satellite LCR squad has taken two victories since then, with Alex Rins at COTA 2023 and Johann Zarco at this year’s French Grand Prix.

Mir’s team-mate Luca Marini finished eighth on Sunday, with Zarco in twelfth.