UPDATE - A 16-second penalty has been officially given to Joan Mir, which means the second place he achieved at the finish line has been taken away. Joan now finds himself classified last at the moment.
Joan Mir finally brought Honda to the podium in this 2026 season where more often than not, the Spaniard found himself crashing out rather than finishing races. But everyone agrees that many of Joan's errors came from his desire to fight at the top even without having a fast enough bike to do so.
Barcelona could have been a trap for Mir, with everything that happened in a GP that can only be described as chaotic. But his composure secured him a well-deserved podium and a bittersweet second place, considering the rider just confirmed his separation from Honda at the end of the season.
His second place is currently still in question, because as we write, the investigation regarding his tyre pressure is yet to be concluded.
"It hasn't been an easy start to the season, I often had the potential to be in the top five - said Mir - I never gave up, and today is an example of that. This is what I wanted in the first five rounds. As you've seen, I'm forced to ride constantly at the limit and if you want to fight for the podium, you can't always ride like this. You can fight for a sixth place, but if you want to consistently fight for the podium, you need more. I'm thrilled to have made the podium here in Barcelona, it's not the best track for us, and we were fast. I'm also thinking of Johann and Alex, because today we took a huge risk, and I hope they're okay and will be at Mugello or at least back soon."
Are you proud of this podium just as you've announced your split with Honda?
"I know my capabilities, I know what I can do even with this bike. I think it was at Jerez that I decided to leave Honda. Soon you'll know where I'm going. But now I want to enjoy this podium. Nothing will change regardless of the results that come from here until the end of the year, the decision is made."
Today was chaotic. How did you maintain concentration?
"It wasn't easy from a psychological standpoint for us riders. Knowing some riders are in the hospital and racing anyway is not easy, you can't train for such things, you need experience to handle them. The fact is, today the risk was very high. Here in Barcelona, something always happens at the start. Yesterday it happened with Binder and me, last year too. We need to think about how to make that first corner safer. We must learn from these things, it's experience the MotoGP needs to manage situations better. Three starts today were a very big risk."
You seemed comfortable behind Acosta.
"I was behind Pedro and let him do the hard work at the beginning of the race. He was riding excellently, and at times I even noticed we were riding quite similarly, so I didn't have to push too hard to stay close. Di Giannantonio rode slightly differently, so it wasn't easy to stay near him. I took too long to pass Pedro, but I wanted to avoid crashing and making mistakes. I couldn't crash again! Maybe I could have fought with Diggia for the win, but before you can run, you have to walk, and it's fine like this."
How do you think they should intervene for the future in Barcelona?
"This straight is long, we arrive at the first corner at high speed. A small mistake is easy to make and can turn into a big problem. Maybe the start grid should be moved forward to reach the first corner at a lower speed. There is an objective risk there, and we need to discuss it to find a solution."
Do you think it's possible to fight for the podium more often with the Honda from now on?
"I don't think so. I have to take too many risks to achieve these results. You can't do it for 22 races every single lap. We need to improve to be able to ride with a bit more margin and then truly compete on equal terms with everyone."
This podium is still at risk...
"It would be a shame. But you can't control certain things. I feel this podium is mine, I don't know what happened with the pressure. From what I saw, everything seemed fine. We shouldn't pay too much attention to what happens that we can't control."
Photocredit@ Pier Luca Brunetti