The factory Honda rider said he was “angry” after riding the RC213V with little in the way of development parts.
Honda ended the 2024 season last of the five manufacturers with a meagre 75 points. Ducati, by contrast, won all but one race and recorded 722 points.
Mir had hoped for significant strides forward with the RC213V but was instead given parts that had already been tested.
The Spaniard finished the test 15th, 1.2 seconds adrift of Gresini’s pace-setter Alex Marquez.
“The reality is that I didn’t have a lot of things to test, I had already tested everything before, so that’s what happened today,” said Mir.
“You expect more from a test as important as this one, the one at the end of the season. There is not much more.
Take the short survey.
“How can I not be angry? There are times allotted for things to arrive, but here they haven’t arrived, for A or B.
“Thank goodness we have a test next week, but it’s clear that I’m not happy, it’s not something to be happy about.”
The last few years have been a battle for the Japanese manufacturer, and ultimately led to Marc Marquez leaving to join Ducati.
Now the team has Luca Marini and Mir, who finished 22nd and 21st respectively in this year’s title race.
Marini and Mir were worse than their Honda customer team LCR. Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami were 17th and 19th respectively.
The bleak reality for Honda and its riders is that it may not make strides forward in 2025 to eclipse Yamaha.
Yamaha also has a new V4 engine in development, which could grow the gap even further.
“We are all in this boat, we all want to get out of this situation, it’s obvious and I know it, but of course, if we don’t have anything for this test, I don’t know what to expect for next week’s test,” said Mir.
“We are still in the same situation as we were, far away, and let’s see if next week we can get a little closer.
“Here I was hoping for something more to improve the project. It’s not a good time to take stock, I’ve done 70 laps with things I’ve tested at least twice.
“I think everyone in the team also expected more. It was very necessary to bring a new bike here and start to see the light.
“Little things have been coming in during the year because work has been going on, and the timing has been delayed maybe because of all that, but we expected more.
“Things are not happening, you have to believe it because you have to be here for two more years.”
Honda will lose its Repsol sponsorship for 2025.
Discussion about this post