Saving Honda's honor in the Sprint Race at Jerez de la Frontera was Joan Mir. Coming back from a few rounds that ended with him upside down, the Spaniard was consistent and incisive, resulting, with his ninth place, the best rider on Honda which, thanks also to the concessions, is slowly progressing.
"In view of the critical issues we have, finishing in this position is not bad. I found myself in a group where I felt comfortable. There were Vinales, Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi. Together we fought for a few laps, but the vibrations put me in trouble. In the race we had a lot of them and it becomes complicated to compensate with riding. At that point it becomes necessary to exploit the front tire more as not being able to turn you spend more time in the corners. For this reason in the last 3-4 laps I had no more tires and could no longer attack those ahead of me. In any case we are arriving," was his analysis.
The foundations for a top 10 finish the Spaniard had already laid in qualifying. "I had a good lap. The others were very fast. When I read 1'36"1 on my dashboard, I started to believe in a second row position. I ended up starting from the third, but I'm still happy. Espargaro is also here and his comments are in line with mine. I think it will be a good weekend in terms of information gathered and confirmation of problems," he said before revealing the nature of Aleix's contribution.
"Nothing special, but still being very fast he provides the same feedback as an official rider. The advantage he brings is that he has the chance to try new things, giving us the opportunity to focus more on performance. Working like this we can soon get good results," he explained.
Regarding the track conditions, however, he reported, "The surface was slippery. In the Sprint even more so than in the morning. Usually Michelin tyres in cool temperatures do not perform at their best, so you have to be careful, because accidents happen in changes of direction and fast corners and usually lead to consequences, while when it is a bit warmer the pace slows down."
About the Japanese manufacturers' recovery, the 2020 MotoGP world champion asserted, "Yamaha is competitive at some circuits. For example, Quartararo was flying in Sepang, but then he struggled in Thailand. It's good here, but we don't want to look at what the others are doing, rather we prefer to focus on ourselves or at most take Ducati as a reference."
Finally, when asked if he raced with his brakes pulled in view of his recent crashes, he replied, "I did a smart race. I needed to finish, but not 15th. Finishing in the top ten gives morale and confidence for the next GPs. Hopefully we can take another step forward tomorrow so that we can fit in between 5th to 9th. For us this would be the crowning achievement of a solid weekend. When we solve the issues we have I'm sure we can fight up at the front."
Marini: "The problem remains the vibrations."
Less sparkling was Luca Marini's race, thirteenth at the checkered flag. "It was not a great Saturday, as we struggled quite a bit. Qualifying was not perfect, meaning that the race was also complicated. The vibrations as in all the Sprints did not leave us, hopefully tomorrow they will be less so we will have a better pace, however the start and the first two corners will make the difference. The hope is to be luckier and recover some positions right away. Are the vibrations the worst? The rear grip also doesn't help us, as soon as you enter a corner you start sliding and then everything vibrates. With more grip, there would be less vibration. The two factors are linked, having said that I am sure with Aleix we are working on that," he reasoned.
In spite of the competition's improvements, the Desmosedicis are still on another planet. "They have a big advantage built over the years, then as there are six factory bikes it's normal that they go fast. In my opinion, however, we are all catching up. We in particular have made incredible strides, especially when you think about the big difficulties we had here in 2024. There's still a long way to go, but we can't help but be happy with the process that has brought us this far," he concluded.