Honda concessions quest in jeopardy after Mir takes out team-mate

Humble apologies for taking Luca Marini out of the Valencia sprint have not spared Joan Mir a long lap penalty in the main race, which will be unexpectedly tense for Honda as it pursues Group C concessions

Factory Honda man Joan Mir says he is “sorry” he took team-mate Luca Marini out of the Saturday sprint in Valencia. But the accident has put Honda’s seemingly simple quest to escape Group D concessions in danger, with no room for error in Sunday’s Valencian Grand Prix – in which Mir will have to serve a long lap penalty.

Honda came into the weekend with what looked like a straightforward task ahead of it in terms of moving up to Group C concessions. All it had to do across the Valencia weekend was take nine points, albeit with only its leading bike in each race counting towards the total.

But the Hondas were already up against it early in the sprint after Mir, who had qualified 10th, lost places on the opening lap and fell behind the Italian, who had lined up 13th. Both men were outside the points as the 2020 MotoGP champion attempted to recover at the start of lap two, when he fell and skittled his team-mate.

“It’s something that you never want to happen,” said Mir. “I’m sorry for him, I’m sorry for the team, because it’s not something that I’m used to doing, things like this. It was my mistake, but it was not a crazy manoeuvre.”

Independent LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco was unable to make up for the factory pair’s zero-score in the Saturday sprint, which he finished just outside the points in 10th.

Second LCR Honda rider and perennial tail-ender Somkiat Chantra would be a long shot to deliver the necessary points on Sunday, while development rider Aleix Espargaro is ineligible to score due to his wildcard status.

Joan Mir, Honda HRC

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

All of this means the onus is on one of Mir, Marini or Zarco to muster at least a seventh-place finish in the final race of the year on Sunday. While Mir is the leading qualifier of the trio, his chances of doing so are have been hit by the long lap penalty.

While the pressure will not be comparable to when Mir wrapped up his world title at the same circuit five years ago, it will add an unexpected element of tension to Honda’s day.

“If you asked me on Thursday if there would be a problem to make nine points or something like this, I would have said, ‘probably not’,” he admitted. “But now I have to do a good race tomorrow to try to lose [concessions].

“This weekend, we’ve had more problems than we expected. Myself, my team-mates, we are struggling more than we expected on this track. That’s the reality.”

Both the factory riders and HRC team boss Alberto Puig have all been clear about their desire to escape Group D concessions, despite the loss of testing and development freedom this would imply.