Joan Mir shines in the test, Honda clarifies: "No agreement with Quartararo"

Honda continues the growth that began in 2025, productive test at Sepang: Mir in the top 5, while Quartararo remains a strong candidate for the future.

Farewell to Grade D concessions, but Honda has still tried to work effectively to put a highly competitive RC213V on track for the 2025 MotoGP season. It’s too early to pass judgment, but the first Sepang test was overall positive. Joan Mir topped day 2 and finished with the fifth-best time in the combined three-day standings. Both on the time attack lap and in the sprint simulation there’s a bit of a gap to Alex Marquez, the best of all in Malaysia, but there’s another test at Buriram to try to improve. Luca Marini is outside the top 10, having not attempted a time attack today.

For the HRC team, making progress over 2025 is crucial, and it seems to be on the right track. Today it’s not realistic to think of troubling Ducati in the race for the MotoGP title. Perhaps only Aprilia could be a threat. We’ll see.

Joan Mir acknowledges the quality of Honda’s work, and believing he can finish a race in the top 5 is certainly positive, while recognizing that the competition has improved as well: "Today we managed to do a longer run, a bit longer than a Sprint Race distance. Our pace was quite good, but we also saw other riders make a step today, so we need to stay focused and keep working. We’ve taken a step forward compared to last year, but everyone else has worked hard too. The position isn’t so important today, we had to adjust our plan and cut back on the time attack, so it wasn’t as impressive as yesterday. If there were a race tomorrow, we could be among the top five."

Luca Marini sees a more advanced Honda RC213V, but he also recognizes that rivals have worked hard to put themselves in a stronger competitive position than in 2025: "We improved the bike with another step today, a satisfying end to three days, but as always everyone else made a step. The situation is similar to last year’s GP in terms of the gap, so we need to work well in Thailand in a few weeks. We’ll also have a couple of new items at Buriram, so there’s still a lot to do before the first race. It’s only the first test and people always play around a bit, so we’ll wait to see what happens at the first race. We’re looking forward to it."

Alberto Puig, speaking to Sky Sport MotoGP, also expressed satisfaction with the RC213V: "We’ve improved the bike quite a bit and we’re happy, and so are the riders. We made small changes to produce a big one. We’ve gained in power, handling, and a bit in all areas. We’ll see where we are compared to Ducati when we start racing: Ducati remains the reference, but we’re moving forward quite a lot. Sooner or later we’ll get there."

No revolution, but changes that overall worked during the Sepang test, even if they couldn’t erase the gap to Ducati. Clearly, a big goal in 2026 is to win at least one race again, after Mir managed to bring HRC back to the podium twice in 2025.

As Honda team manager, Puig couldn’t avoid a question about Fabio Quartararo, touted as a future signing for his team for 2027: "Everyone is talking to everyone right now. Some may have already closed deals, Honda hasn’t yet. For now we have to focus on our current riders and see how we start the season, then decisions will be made. Today Honda is focused on the bike and wants the riders to begin the season at a high level."

The Spaniard quashes the rumors, for now. Quartararo has nevertheless confirmed that he’s also in talks with Honda, although nothing has been signed yet. He’s certainly observing HRC’s growth, a giant that has awakened after difficult years in MotoGP. Unlike Yamaha, which, in the midst of a revolution, is still struggling greatly. The Frenchman has returned to Europe after fracturing a finger at Sepang, and updates are awaited both on his physical condition and his future.