Mir ‘doesn’t think’ Marquez leaving ‘will change so much’ for Honda in MotoGP

Last week, Honda announced that it had reached an amicable agreement with eight-time world champion Marquez to part ways at the end of the 2023 season with a year left on his contract.

On Thursday morning, Gresini Ducati subsequently nnounced that it had signed Marquez for 2024.

Mir, who joined Honda this year from Suzuki, says he was “not surprised” that Marquez elected to leave HRC but doesn’t believe it will have a significant impact on the team next year.

“The pressure is always there,” he said on Thursday at the Indonesian GP.

“In a team like this one, they always want to win. Nothing but a win is good. I share the same thinking as them, so this is good.

“But I’m in a different situation than Marc, because he probably showed everything in this team.

“So, I was not surprised that he is leaving because the situation is very difficult. But for my part, I felt that if I was leaving I was failing in this project and I just don’t want to leave like this.

“I still believe we can do something great together. Nobody expected that when we came to Suzuki in the second year we would win the championship, and top three the year after with the results we showed.

“Now that Marc will not be here, I don’t think it will change so much. But something will change, so I hope it will be positive.”

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Mir also sees no change in his standing within Honda moving forward as its de facto team leader, noting that the bike this year has not specifically been developed around Marquez.

“Well, honestly, for the half – or a bit more – of year we made, I could see the development of the bike was not for one rider,” he added.

“I could see everything what I needed. If I asked for one bike that Marc didn’t like, I always had it. If I wanted a different thing that Marc doesn’t like, I was able to have it.

“It means I never felt like a second rider. I think this doesn’t exist now in the official teams. In the private teams, I don’t know.

“But in official ones, no. It will not change too much. Something will change, because maybe now in terms of next year I will be the one who will decide what bike we should take.

“So, that for me I think is positive, because I don’t have to fight with another one about it.

“If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, it’s not. That’s a positive point I can see.

“With Marc all this year, I could see that the comments were always the same. So, the development was always in one direction.”

Additional reporting by Motorsport.com Indonesia