Joan Mir, Luca Marini buoyed by Zarco’s performance

Repsol Honda team-mates Luca Marini and Joan Mir saw their Indonesian MotoGP hopes end after just a few corners of Sunday’s race.

Marini was down and out on the spot after being caught up in a four-rider incident triggered when Jack Miller lost the front of his KTM.

“Just bad luck,” said Marini. “Anyway, this race was quite strange, only 12 riders finished, so it was very easy to take points today. But my bike was destroyed, so it was impossible to rejoin the race.”

Mir was forced off track as he swerved around the fallen bikes and riders, rejoining in last place before crashing out on lap 13.

“I was last by 3 seconds,” he said. “It was very difficult to warm the tyres at the beginning because they were pretty hard here. Then I caught and overtook Rins, started to do ‘31 lows and lost the front in turn one.

“This weekend I was not able to get a good feeling from the bike. I always was struggling in some areas. So we have to understand, make a reset and go to Motegi that is a more ‘normal’ track let's say and see where we are.”

But while the Repsol riders left Sunday’s race empty-handed, LCR’s Johann Zarco took Honda’s best result of the season with ninth place (from seventh on the grid) with a margin of 15.5s to victory after 27 laps.

To put that margin into context, it would have put Zarco a fraction behind Maverick Vinales in a fight for sixth at the previous Emilia Romagna round.

“In Misano it was me that was able to do something more and here it was Johann,” said Mir. “He made a very good job with the team. They worked very well and all together they know how to manage all the problems that we are having at the moment with the bike. Also Taka [Nakagami, 11th at the finish] was fast and so hope that in Motegi we put everything on the table and we are able to be to be faster.”

Marini labelled Zarco’s performance as the most positive aspect of the race.

“Our bike is starting to be more competitive, also if we see the performance of Johann, it's good,” said the Italian. “The gap between him and the first is good. So it's just a pity for my result, but I think for the development of the bike it's a great moment and we have to be satisfied about this. Just work more for the next one.”

That ‘next one’ is Honda’s home round at Motegi this weekend, Marini’s first as an RC213V rider.

“I am really looking forward to racing in Japan as an HRC rider,” he said. “It’s an incredible country and to arrive there with this bike and these colours is something that many people dream about, I want to enjoy the whole weekend.

“Of course, the best way to enjoy is on the track and I know that we can again be strong like in Misano and Indonesia before the crash on Sunday.”

Mir, twelfth in last year’s wet Japanese MotoGP, added: “As a Honda rider Motegi is special, I really noticed it last year. It’s something you always look forward to and I’m looking forward to giving all the Honda fans something to cheer about.”

Zarco is the top Honda rider in the world championship standings, albeit in 17th, with 31 points. Nakagami is 18th (25 points), Mir 20th (20 points) and Marini 24th (5 points).