Hot temperatures and even hotter laps were the order of the day as the 2025 MotoGP World Championship season got underway, Honda HRC Castrol starting with their best foot forward as Joan Mir and Luca Marini consistently challenged at the front.
The much-anticipated return of MotoGP action finally arrived at the Chang International Circuit as the Thai GP commenced. Still fresh from testing in Thailand just under two weeks ago, the Honda HRC Castrol team went straight to work to pick up where they left off on their Honda RC213V machines. A positive day for the pairing of Joan Mir and Luca Marini as the duo were able to fight for the top ten and continue improving their speed, demonstrating that testing was no one-off.
Having taken the most positives from the pre-season, 2020 MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir was eager to make the next steps and show his speed in racing conditions. A strong day, able to build and improve on each exit out on track, would see Mir finish sixth overall with a best time of 1’29.398 and earn himself a ticket directly into Q2. This is Mir’s first trip directly to Q2 since the 2023 Indian GP where he went on to finish fifth in Sunday’s race. With this, Mir is guaranteed a spot on the front four rows of the grid but has already shown the speed to battle for more. Having often struggled for one-lap pace in 2024, Friday’s result already demonstrates the improvements he and the team have made over winter.
0.2s from the combined top ten in the end, Luca Marini spent the majority of Friday in close contention to his Honda HRC Castrol teammate. Ultimately setting a best lap time of 1’29.787, the #10 would end the day in 16th with his true potential masked. Yellow flags on his final flying lap restricted Marini from maintaining the position inside the top ten he had held for most of the session. The Italian is unphased by the lower-than-expected position, aware that he and his team have margin to improve overnight to match the speed of Mir. Marini also remains confident of coming back stronger in both the Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He will certainly be one of the riders in contention during Q1 on Saturday, his objective to join teammate Joan Mir in Q2. Both will then have their first experience racing in Honda HRC Castrol colours when the 13-lap Sprint Race begins at 15:00 Local Time on Saturday.
