21st place in FP1, 18th place in the afternoon training. 1.133 seconds behind the leaders. The MotoGP Friday in Le Mans once again gave Joan Mir the familiar picture of the 2024 season so far: keeping the upper hand in Honda’s internal four-way battle, but otherwise being mercilessly inferior. Once again it’s all about the golden pineapple at the legendary Bugatti Circuit in France. Since there is still no end to this period of suffering in sight, the 2020 MotoGP world champion is now pondering: Does he still want to ride for Honda or in the premier class in general next year?
Honda in crisis: no improvements in sight
“If we have the same motorcycle as at the start of the season, we can’t expect any different results,” said Mir, initially annoyed, on Friday evening. “It is obvious that we are suffering in some areas and that we complain about the same things every time. We know where we are losing. In Jerez we understood which path we have to take. Now we have to wait for our people something like that and we’ll see changes. But I don’t know how long that will take.”
Nothing remains of the positive mood in the Honda camp after the winter test drives. Planning for the coming years is currently proving correspondingly difficult. The Japanese would like to have a top driver, but they probably won’t get one. While Luca Marini already has a valid contract for next season, Mir’s future is still completely open. The Spaniard achieved the hoped-for increase in performance in 2024 after a disastrous season in the previous year, but he has already collected almost half as many points as in the entire last season. From Honda’s point of view, there should actually be little to speak against extending the contract, but from the Mallorcan’s side it looks completely different.
“I don’t know and I’m completely serious,” Mir replied on Friday when asked how long he was willing to wait for a visible improvement at Honda. The 26-year-old then took a deep look: “I don’t know how much longer my body can take this. I once thought that I couldn’t do it anymore, but I’m still here and think I’m doing the best job possible “I always try to be ahead of the others and do good races, but it just takes a miracle for me to do more.”
Joan Mir: Shortly before the end of her MotoGP career in 2023
Still one of the top riders in the MotoGP field at Suzuki, Mir’s career has suffered a significant slump since he moved to Honda. Last year it even went so far that he even considered ending his career early. At least that doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore at the moment. “I’m at peace with myself now,” he says and explains: “Last year the whole situation went a bit to my head and I didn’t perform as well as I could have. But this year the bike is much worse than that last season and I’m still faster. So I’m in a better position and I feel physically healthy and strong. I see that I’m no longer limiting my performance.”
“The reality is that everyone who has come here in recent years has left in worse condition. That’s just the way it is, and that applies to me too. There is no driver who drives better than before he arrived,” says I don’t have a good opinion of my employer, Honda. MotoGP legend Jorge Lorenzo had already failed there in 2019 and the following Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro and Alex Rins (LCR) – who said goodbye to Yamaha last winter via an exit clause after just one season – could no longer compete on the RC213V build on previously demonstrated achievements. Even a superstar Marc Marquez recently admitted that mentally he wouldn’t have been able to survive another season at Honda.
Joan Mir undecided: Trackhouse Racing? Superbike change?
“You have to deal with this situation and try to make the best of it. That’s the difficult thing, because I know what options I’ll have. They’re not the ones I’d like to have, but I have some,” Mir reveals Looking at his own future. A change to a top team in MotoGP seems unrealistic, and rumors have been circulating in recent days about a possible move to newcomer Trackhouse Racing. But a departure towards the Superbike World Championship also seems possible. “We’re still thinking about it,” says the Spaniard and adds: “I’m convinced that with a competitive bike it wouldn’t take long until I was back at the top.”
Will he receive one in MotoGP? The chances are probably not too good. So you are now asked: Where do you see Joan Mir in the coming year? Honda, Trackhouse, WorldSBK or somewhere else entirely? Tell us in the comments!