Honda hopes Mir doesn’t lose motivation during its MotoGP nadir

Honda is hoping that lead rider Joan Mir can maintain his motivation level until it is able to produce a competitive bike in MotoGP again.

The Japanese manufacturer’s 2024 campaign was arguably its worst in the premier class as it ended the year at the bottom of the standings with just 75 points on the board.

On the factory RC213V, Mir mustered just 21 points during the season, finishing 21st and only ahead of team-mate Luca Marini in the riders’ standings. Both were outscored by LCR duo Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami, dealing a further blow to HRC’s image.

Team boss Alberto Puig admitted that Honda’s competitive struggle has made life difficult for 2020 champion Mir, but he wants the Spaniard to retain the same desire to succeed in MotoGP.

“Joan is already a world champion in MotoGP, so the current situation is not so comfortable for him,” Puig told the official MotoGP website.

“The bike is not at the level. He is trying, he has had some crashes, obviously. When you are a champion, you are pushing, you want to have the result, but still things could not match. 

“I hope he can keep his motivation even in difficult times.”

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Repsol Media

Puig feels Honda was able to find a clear direction with the development of the bike after a number of experiments during the first half of the 2024 season.

A clear uplift in performance was visible from the second round in Misano, with Zarco able to deliver two top-10 finishes during the flyaway races in Asia.

However, while Puig takes encouragement from the progress made by the crew, he admitted that the results were far below expectations.

“It's not been easy, clearly. The results are not what we want,” he conceded.

“But it's been a year that….[in the] first part of the season we were trying many many things and solutions and in the second part of the year we more or less had an idea of what can work or not. 

“We made some improvements, not as much as we would have liked. We made some improvements and we are in constant research of how to prepare next year's machine. 

“Still we didn't make the result we are looking for. But from our engineering point of view, the engineers are understanding more and more how to proceed, where to go, and how we have to do, which is important. but this probably takes time to see the results, the reality on the paper.”

Alberto Puig, Team Principal Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Maintaining Honda's drive to return to the front, Puig insisted: “The only thing we never lost was our will to come back.

“This is the will that drives you to keep on going, even though we are clearly behind, and this is a fact.”