Joan Mir: “The crashes during races have to stop”

Joan Mir is determined to finally ‘deliver’ on his 2025 qualifying form as the MotoGP world championship arrives in Qatar this weekend.

The HRC Castrol rider has broken into Q2 at all three events this year, including eighth on the grid last time in COTA.

But Mir has crashed out of three of the six races, leaving him with just ten points and behind RCV colleagues Johann Zarco and Luca Marini in the world championship standings.

Mir’s five accidents in all sessions this season also puts him top of the MotoGP falls list, alongside Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.

“Our objective for Qatar is quite simple: we have to finish and deliver on what we have shown,” said Mir, who has often been caught out while trying to bridge Honda’s top speed deficit in braking and corner.

“I have been able to ride well and the bike is performing, but the crashes during the races have to stop.

“Qatar is a place where normally I go well so it is a good place to get back on track.

“Let’s see what is possible under the floodlights this weekend, my drive to perform is still right there.”

While Mir failed to finish either race in COTA, Marini took his best Honda result of eighth in both races.

“We have had a really good start to the year, doing better than we were at the end of 2024,” Marini said.

“My team and I have been able to improve over the course of each weekend, showing that both we and the bike are working better.”

The Italian has scored 20 points so far, more than his entire tally from the 2024 season.

Left at the back of the field on his Honda debut in Qatar last year, Marini unsurprisingly expects much better from this weekend.

“Qatar is next up for us, and it will be a good chance to try our bike at a track where sometimes things aren’t easy,” he said.

“It was our first race last year so I am certain that we can do a lot more!

“The conditions should be a lot more stable than in Austin, but even in Qatar we have some sessions more in the day than at night.

“After this we return to Europe and the intensity of the season really increases.”

Marini has finished every race this season and is also yet to fall in any track session.

Most falls so far this season (all sessions):

6 - Joan Mir, Marco Bezzecchi.

3 - Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer, Johann Zarco.

2 - Raul Fernandez, Marc Marquez, Jack Miller, Ai Ogura.

1 - Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder, Somkiat Chantra, Fabio di Giannantonio, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira.

0 - Luca Marini, Alex Marquez, Fabio Quartararo*, Alex Rins, Maverick Vinales.

*COTA sighting lap crash not included in official figures.