Positives continued for Honda HRC Castrol riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini in Sepang, Mir taking sixth and going a second faster than his Qualifying time from the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix as Marini finished within a tenth of Marquez on day two.
Action resumed in Sepang for the second day of the test, the Malaysian heat increasing even further to add another challenge to proceedings. The Honda HRC Castrol team took it in their stride as they continued with their testing plan after an intense night of work for engineers and mechanics. Threats of rain would persist throughout the day with only the briefest of pauses in action. It all helped to produce another very positive day for the Honda RC213V riders.
Joan Mir’s improvements continued as he set a best lap of 1’57.791, placing him comfortably inside the top ten in sixth place and only half a second off the top spot. He had the potential to go faster, but a small hiccup coming out of the last corner limited his outright pace. Despite the disappoint of not having a final attempt at a fast lap, the #36 ends the day boosted by the work and speed he and the Honda HRC Castrol team have shown. A busy final day now awaits as he targets maintaining his position near the top.
On the other side of the garage, Luca Marini completed another 56 laps with a best time of 1’58.518. The second day of the test saw the Italian focus mostly on testing aerodynamic pieces to find the best combination of materials available. A big job, but with significant reward as Marini can now shift his attention to the rest of the testing plan on the final day. Even with his attentions not on a single fast alp, Marini’s time put him 15th on the time sheets and less than a tenth behind Marc Marquez.
Friday, February 07, will be the final day of the Sepang Test and the entirety of the Honda HRC Castrol team are determined to continue the positive progress shown over the opening two days.
