Luca Marini eyes MotoGP front row as Honda makes strong start at Indonesian GP

Honda’s MotoGP resurgence went to a new level on Friday at the Indonesian GP with the team targeting the front row

Factory Honda rider Luca Marini believes he can qualify on the front row at the Indonesian Grand Prix following another positive day for the fast-improving Japanese marque.

Marini topped Friday morning’s first practice at Mandalika, then featured prominently near the top of the timesheets throughout second practice before finishing the session in fourth.

With team-mate Joan Mir sixth-quickest, the two factory Hondas progressed directly to Q2 for the third straight race amid a stirring resurgence that began after the MotoGP summer break.

The showing in Indonesia on Friday followed Mir qualifying second last time out at Motegi and then finishing on the podium. But the consistent speed of both riders throughout the day suggested even more progress, which Marini confirmed.

“We keep improving our feeling, the bike is giving us very good sensations and every GP we can do something more as riders,” he said. “We can understand the bike better and we can [push the limit of the bike] a bit more forward compared to the races before.

“We can be super satisfied about this Friday. I know it’s only Friday and there is still a lot of work to do. But for tomorrow the target will be to try and start on the first row – or even the second row is good. I think we can improve the bike a little bit, find more potential with the new software and find some tenths.”

Joan Mir, Honda HRC

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

While nobody was in the same league as Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) on one-lap pace today, the front row would be a fine platform for Marini given he believes he will be stronger over race distances: “On race pace I’m feeling really comfortable; riding the bike very well. But on the time attack I need to force too much and every time I’m risking crashing at every corner.”

Mir was also pleased with Friday’s result, particularly given his general dislike for the beachside circuit on Lombok.

“It’s not my favourite track, it’s not a track that I enjoy riding, and we are fast,” said 2020 world champion Mir. “It means a lot to be strong at this track. It means that we can be strong at tracks where I perform in a better way. So, this day gave me a bit of [assurance] for the rest of the season.”

Mir confirmed Marini’s view that Honda’s showing today was representative of another genuine step, despite challenging conditions that shuffled the field somewhat.

“We are making progress,” he added. “I think that we didn’t stop that progress [yet]. And I think that we have more margin, probably, than the others. Because we are discovering this bike a little bit more, the new upgrades that we get, and I think we have some margin to improve.”