Joan Mir, a welcome return to normality: "In 2026 we need another step forward"

2025 has restored confidence to Mir after some difficult years: Honda’s progress allows him to look to the future with optimism.

Honda has made correct use of the concessions, and its MotoGP riders’ results have clearly improved this year. The factory HRC team also managed to return to the podium, something that had been missing since 2023, when Marc Marquez was still in the garage. The one to break the curse was Joan Mir, third both at Motegi and Sepang. He had been off the podium for 1,421 days, having last stepped on it in 2021 as a Suzuki rider.

He joined Honda in 2023 and spent years with many crashes and disappointing results. Certainly, 2025 was a year that allowed him to find his smile again, thanks to an improved technical project and an RC213V that finally let him get results more in line with his expectations. He still had too many retirements, some not his fault, but overall he can be confident about the future.

The start of the season wasn’t easy, but there was a moment when a good step forward happened. Mir spoke about it to Crash.net: "In the first part of the year, the best thing I could do with this bike was to finish in the top seven. If anyone did more, it was due to conditions or particular situations. After Barcelona, we improved the aerodynamics a bit and the engine connection. That was something that bothered me a lot. And then, personally, I was able to make a click".

Although the race at Motegi was something special, it was Sepang that the Majorcan rider liked most: "Because of the bike’s potential in itself. Sepang isn’t a track that historically suits this bike very well. And I think what we did there was very important. Normally we have grip problems, and Sepang is a track with very little grip. To compensate we had to brake a lot, taking more risks than the others. I managed the situation very well. So I’d say Sepang was my best race".

Mir has rediscovered the joy of riding the RC213V by being able to brake hard, something that he couldn’t do even in his good Suzuki days, because the GSX-RR had different characteristics: "With the Suzuki, that wasn’t the style — he says — I had to adapt to the bike, be much smoother, brake a bit earlier and release the brakes earlier. That bike required that kind of style. And now with Honda I’ve returned to my natural style. Like in Moto3 and Moto2. It’s something I really enjoy, braking really hard and really planting the bike into the ground. But it’s very difficult to do, because I’m taking more risks than others and you have to find the limit and the confidence".

The overall assessment of the 2025 MotoGP World Championship is positive, even if there are some things he hopes to improve for 2026, a very important year for several reasons: "It was a key year — the two-time world champion comments — in which we were able to change things. I probably waited a bit longer than I hoped. We had a lot of bad luck and zero consistency. But in terms of performance, the rider’s potential, and Honda’s potential to turn things around, it was a very positive season. Now we need another jump, to try to find more consistency, with a bit more potential. Because if I always have to be on the limit, it’ll be tough. But I hope next year we start from here and move forward".

Mir, like the vast majority of the MotoGP grid, has a contract expiring at the end of 2026 and will need results to secure a seat for 2027 as well. He’s on that list of riders who have gone through difficult years and don’t have a guaranteed ride, so he needs to do something extra to avoid nasty surprises.

It’s no secret that Honda is thinking of bringing back Marc Marquez, whose renewal with Ducati is not certain. Even if both parties would gladly continue together, an economic agreement still needs to be found, which currently isn’t there and could prove anything but simple. HRC might have the right cards to bring the nine-time world champion back home.

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