Joan Mir needed stitches after “unexpected” French MotoGP crash

Honda’s Joan Mir needed to have stitches on a laceration to his hand following his crash on Sunday at the MotoGP French Grand Prix.

The 2020 world champion has only seen the chequered flag once on a Sunday so far in 2026, with the French Grand Prix marking his fourth DNF in five rounds.

Joan Mir was enjoying a strong weekend at Le Mans, with the Honda rider qualifying seventh and finishing sixth in Saturday’s sprint.

He was on for another top six result in Sunday’s main race, but crashed out on lap 20 of 27 while running sixth.

Honda cancelled Mir’s media duties on Sunday, and posted on its social media channels that he needed stitches on his right hand due to a laceration.

‘The line between crashing and not with this bike is very narrow’

Mir says the crash was a result of him trying to keep temperature in his hard front tyre after clearing Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

He also noted again that the “line between crashing and not with this bike is very narrow”.

“Well, a disappointing way to finish a strong weekend on our part,” he said, in a statement from Honda.

“I think it was a very unexpected crash, I would say, because we were out there with the hard front.

“And when I was there with Fabio, I could stay a little bit more safe, let’s say.

“And once I overtook him, the front started to get colder and colder, and I had to attack the front to try to raise the temperature up.

“And I lost the front very early braking straight. It was a shame what happened.

“It was a very hard crash. I have a couple of stitches in the hand.

“But I feel good. I’m ok and this is the most important thing.

“And nothing. It was a shame because I think a top five, top six result was there, but again we couldn’t put everything together.

“So, we must continue working to ride with more margin, as I always say, to avoid these things because the line between crashing and not with this bike is very narrow.”