Jerez (Spain): With the complications of the Americas GP behind them, the Repsol Honda Team are aiming to reset and return to making forward progress at the familiar Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de Espana in the MotoGP 2024 Championship. The Circuit de Jerez – Angel Nieto first hosted a Grand Prix in 1987 and has become one of the most well-attended and iconic races on the calendar with fans flocking to the grandstand and hills around the track.
At 4.42 kilometers, the track has created legendary moments such as Doohan vs Criville, Rossi vs Gibernau, Marquez vs Lorenzo and many more. Honda have won the Spanish Grand Prix in the premier class on 25 occasions, first in 1983 and most recently in 2019.
Leaving Austin with a double DNF, Joan Mir is eager to get back to the form he showed in the opening two races of the year and continue maximising his performance throughout the weekend. The Jerez circuit offers another contrasting track in the opening gambit of the MotoGP season for Mir and the Repsol Honda Team to test the RC213V machine in the hunt for improvements.
“I think coming to a race like Jerez where you have all the home fans to support you will be a help after the tough weekend we had in Austin. It’s important to put that behind us and keep working like we did at the start of the year to understand the capability of the bike this weekend.
“We are realistic about what is possible, and we need to focus on making improvements and aiming for more in the future. It’s about step by step, making steady progress and we can’t expect a big leap at this stage,” said Joan Mir.
Like his teammate, Luca Marini arrives in Spain looking for more. The Italian was able to complete both races in America but remains focused on making progress forward and joining the fight for top Honda honours consistently.
“It’s another weekend to keep working with the team and aim for more improvements. Now is not the time to stop working, we have to keep on gathering information and not only trying to improve our current package but also working on developments for the future. Jerez is a good track for this kind of job, the Test Team has done a lot of testing here and will be with us this weekend so it will be interesting to see what we can learn from this,” Luca Marini said.
At this stage, more bike time and more information to work with are what is needed. Marini’s best finish at the Spanish Grand Prix is sixth in the premier class, achieved in 2023.
Stefan Bradl and the HRC Test Team will join as a fifth Honda RC213V this weekend, the team regularly testing at Jerez throughout the year.
A one-day post-race Test will follow the Grand Prix on Monday.
–IANS
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