In a day of mixed conditions, Joan Mir showed himself as a force to be reckoned with in the wet and the dry as he once again earned a ticket directly to Q2. Luca Marini missed the top ten by less than half a second after almost losing the front on his final lap.
A day of two halves in Austin, Texas as the heavens opened overnight to leave the Circuit of The Americas soaking wet on Friday morning. Persistent rain until the afternoon meant there was no doubt about tyre choice for Free Practice 1, conditions improving later as the all important time attack began. Wet or dry, both Joan Mir and Luca Marini kept the Honda HRC Castrol team in the mix as they challenged well into the top ten.
Up at the sharp end in all conditions, Joan Mir regularly found himself inside the top three as Friday at COTA progressed and he focused on always being in the right place at the right time should the conditions turn again. The #36 has continued to go from strength to strength at the start of the year and secured a third visit to Q2. With a spot in the top 12 on the grid already guaranteed, Mir and his team still believe there is room to improve in the dry. A best time of 2’04.342 saw Mir end the day in ninth overall.
A diligent Luca Marini took every advantage of the conditions to deepen his understanding of the 2025 Honda RC213V in the wet, dry and drying conditions offered up by COTA on Friday. Ending in 15th place in the final session, Marini was just half a second back from completing the top ten and will be one of the riders to watch in Q1 on Saturday.
The focus for both sides of the Honda HRC Castrol garage remain on extracting the final tenths in morning practice before Qualifying and the Sprint. Starting at 15:00 Local Time and running across 10 laps, weather forecasts are currently predicting a dry Sprint.
