Joan Mir celebrates “easy” day at Sepang as Honda trio lauds bike

Honda enjoyed an excellent Friday in Malaysia – and its riders are adamant that it wasn’t just down to the mixed weather

Honda’s leading three MotoGP riders were all glowing with praise for the RC213V following the first day’s action at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Friday.

After a form dip in Australia last weekend, the Japanese marque rediscovered its recent upward trajectory in Practice at Sepang, with LCR’s Johann Zarco second-fastest and factory rider Joan Mir fourth-quickest.

The second factory rider, Luca Marini, narrowly missed out on joining them in Q2 when he was edged out of the top 10. He placed 11th and was 0.062s shy of making it directly into the battle for pole.

But Marini joined the others in praising the bike’s performance thus far in Malaysia, which also included an appearance at the top of the speed trap figures for Mir in both sessions. That represented enormous progress for a manufacturer that was struggling in the power department until earlier in the season.

“I think the most important thing is that we made fantastic progress compared winter test here [at Sepang],” said Marini. “Now the bike is working well and we just need to find two or three steps for tomorrow.”

His team-mate Mir was in a jocular mood with the press after a day when everything went to plan.

“Normally I start this by saying it was a difficult day, but today was not very difficult!” laughed Mir. “Honestly, today was a positive day.

Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Asif Zubairi / Motorsport Network

“From FP1 I was able to feel good with this package. We did a great job to decide the set-up and everything yesterday. And straight away I felt at home.

“That made the day very easy, because we were adjusting the bike just for the conditions at the moment. If the track improves, you make the bike harder. And if the grip on the track is less, you go softer.

“These are the types of adjustments that you make when you have everything on point. Today was nice. Inside the box [there was] a lot of harmony.”

Zarco’s showing was the biggest surprise, given the Frenchman’s steady decline in form since winning his home race in May. Having begun experimenting with a mix of old and new parts in Australia, he confirmed he was using the “old engine” on Friday.

“The confidence was back today on the bike,” he said. “We are still trying to understand which kind of bike I need because I lost confidence in the last races. Today, it’s good to have it back and it seems that it was important to play with a new set-up of the bike, which at the moment pleases me.

“Tomorrow the main thing is to try to qualify as well as possible in a top position, because it will be the biggest opportunity to do a good race.”

While the changeable weather in Malaysia may have compromised a few of Honda’s rivals in Practice, further rain may not be a bad thing for Zarco. His win at Le Mans was a result of making the right calls in mixed conditions – a skill that could well come in handy later this weekend.