Joan Mir, the former MotoGP world champion, secured his best result on a Honda since his fifth-place finish in India 2023 by crossing the line seventh in Aragon—something he never expected to celebrate.
Between 2019 and 2022, Mir collected 30 top-six finishes with Suzuki. But after enduring eight DNFs this season and constant struggles on the underperforming Honda, he was surprisingly content with seventh place.
“Finally, we could finish the race with a more-or-less good result. I’ve never been happy with a seventh position in my career, but now I’m happy,” Mir said.
“We are in a very difficult situation and finally being able to fight with these guys, we have to be happy about it. We don’t have the tools to do anything more, so I will go to bed very calm, knowing I gave my 100%.”
Despite signs of progress in handling, braking, and corner speed, Mir admitted that critical weaknesses remain in top speed, acceleration, and grip—elements vital for moving up the grid.
“If not, it will be difficult to finish higher than 7th unless something happens in front, like today,” he added.
The lack of straight-line performance was evident as Mir placed ahead of only rookie Somkiat Chantra and Aprilia stand-in Lorenzo Savadori in the top speed charts at Aragon.
“When you overtake, you are super tense, thinking that on the straight they will overtake you back,” he said. “The relief, after one lap without being overtaken, is massive.”
Mir noted that while his solo pace in practice is close to the top five, race conditions are another story. “You have a lot of bikes around, and you can’t always find a clear track. We don’t start on pole and we are not the fastest, so that complicates things.”
With teammate Luca Marini out injured and Johann Zarco crashing, Chantra was the only other Honda to finish—coming in 16th.
