Tenths of a second were the difference as Luca Marini and Joan Mir got reacquainted with the floodlights, the pair taking 12th and 13th respectively on Friday and both less than 0.15s from the top ten in Lusail.
From day to night, the opening evening of running at the Lusail International Circuit saw the Honda HRC Castrol team face the sun and the moon. Both Luca Marini and Joan Mir were able to post competitive times as they focused their attentions on securing a spot in the overall top ten. With less than a second splitting the 13 fastest riders, it was all up for grabs at the end of Practice as everyone battled for a place directly in Q2.
Consistency was the order of the day for Luca Marini who took a pair of 12th place finishes in both sessions. A best time of 1’51.775 in the evening session saw Marini end Friday as the fastest of the Honda HRC Castrol duo and just over a tenth back on a spot in the top ten. His ever-improving single lap speed has brought him to be a consistent challenger for Q2 and he will be one to watch in Q1 alongside his teammate on Saturday. He remains confident that with better track placement he can contest a Q2 transfer.
Ending nose to tail with the Honda RC213V of Marini in the time sheets, Joan Mir’s time of 1’51.784 was only 0.009s behind his teammate’s best. The #36 was once again a front-running protagonist in each of the sessions as he was able to consistently stay with the pace of the top five for the majority of running. Continuing his so far perfect run of Q2 appearances in 2025 is the first goal on his list for Saturday as he and his team aim to improve his performance in fast corners.
Saturday will be an important day for both Honda HRC Castrol riders, Free Practice 2 giving way to Q1 at 15:40 Local Time to see who will move through to Q2. As shown in Austin, with a strong grid position both Marini and Mir have the ability to fight into the top ten. Once the grid is decided, the MotoGP World Championship will line up at 20:00 Local Time to contest the 11 lap Sprint.
