Joan Mir: “It’s very strange what’s happening to us”

It’s taken longer than was perhaps expected after receiving access to the revised concessions package, but Honda - like Yamaha - has made a step forward in the last three MotoGP rounds.

The top RCV rider finished an average of 14th place over the opening 11 grands prix, which has improved to an average of 11th in the last three Sunday races.

A new aero package and swingarm have been among the recent developments, aimed at addressing Honda’s long-suffering traction and turning weakness.

But for Joan Mir, the increase in rear grip appears to bring the unwanted side effect of chatter on new rubber. It's an issue that others, such as KTM's Augusto Fernandez, are also facing this year: "The more grip we have, the more vibrations".

Those vibrations left Repsol Honda rider Mir just 20th on the grid at Mandalika, then on the ground in the opening lap of the Sprint. It also meant Mir's ‘fast pace' on used tyres - when lower grip means the vibrations decrease - counted for nothing.

“With used tyres we’re fast. [But] with new tyres I’m getting a lot of vibration and I cannot make the lap. So we are with that [same] problem we had in Misano,” Mir said.

“Then in the Sprint it was something similar. I had a lot of vibration in the first 2 laps and for that I crashed.

“In FP2 with the used tyre I was able to have a good pace. With a 12 lap tyre I did a 30.8. and with the new soft [in qualifying] a 30.7!

“So it’s very strange what’s happening to us. But if we solve this our real potential will be a lot more strong.”

The 2020 world champion added: “I’m happy with the base we have at the moment in terms of set up. Just that problem with the new tyre specifically, we have a lot of vibration.

“For how I’m seated on the bike, or for some reason, we produce more vibration than the others. It’s something we are trying to understand. Luca and Zarco don’t complain so much and it’s my biggest problem, as we see on the data.

“In the Sprint race I crashed for this problem and this doesn’t help me use all the potential of the [new] aero package and the new swingarm that we are using.

“But once I was with the used tyre I was able to be very fast [on Saturday] morning.”

The change from a soft to medium rear tyre for Sunday’s grand prix should reduce the maximum rear grip in the early laps and play into Mir’s hands

“Probably the medium will be better for this problem. We’ll see if we can make a good race,” he confirmed.

Starting seventh on the grid, LCR’s Johann Zarco took Honda’s best Sprint race result of the season with eighth in the Saturday race.

Mir’s team-mate Luca Marini also struggled in qualifying, starting 17th, then tangled with Brad Binder and was ahead of only the fallen Jorge Martin on the opening lap.

“[Zarco is showing] the bike is improving a lot and for this I am really satisfied,” Marini said. “From my side, I made some mistakes in qualifying and in the race the pace of everybody is very similar, so if you can make a good start then you position at the end is either nice or not.

“I was unlucky because Brad Binder kept the front device engaged in the first sector so I hit him Turn 8 and went back to last. Tomorrow we’ll try again for a good start and then let’s see; if we are top 15 on lap one then I think we are able to make a good result.”

Zarco's team-mate Takaaki Nakagami, using the new fairing for the first time in a GP weekend on Saturday, finished one place ahead of Marini.

"We need more time to understand, also myself," Nakagami said of the new aero, which the other Honda riders raced at the previous Misano round. "Today we only had 10 laps of practice, then qualifying and the Sprint. 

"The feeling [with the fairing] is different. The grip doesn't change so much but it has better turning, from the ground effect. It's clearly the right way [to go]. But in the exit of the corner, I had more wheelie. 

"Let's see tomorrow. 27 laps in this heat means tyre management will be the key. A top ten would be very positive before my home GP..."