For once, Marquez and Mir are arriving at the Grand Prix with good memories from the previous one. The Buddh International Circuit was good to Honda: Marc reached the podium in Saturday’s race and, without the fall, he could’ve done so on Sunday, too. Joan slipped up in the Sprint, but reached a 5th place in the long race. These important results will rebuild trust and morale, especially since Japan, Honda's home GP, awaits them.
“Motegi is always a special race, especially if you’re a Honda rider,” Marc said. “In the past, we’ve experienced many memorable moments, winning championships and, last year, I was back in pole position. So I hope we can do something nice and give fans a reason to cheer for us. The conditions at Motegi can change often, so we’ll have to adapt over the course of the weekend. But our overall goal remains the same, which is making constant progress and achieving the best result possible.”
It’ll be Joan Mir's first time with HRC: “I can’t wait to race at Motegi as a Honda rider. The fans are always incredible, and I can’t wait to go back. We’re coming from a weekend in India where we managed to be consistent with a good final result, and I hope we can do it again in Japan,” he said regarding his goal. “But I think this weekend will be more challenging, so we’ll see what happens. It’s all about preparing to end the season in the best way possible.”