Hard work and upgrades continued to propel the Honda HRC Castrol team forward at Round 15 of the World Championship, Luca Marini earning a spot in the top ten while barely a tenth of a second separated Joan Mir.
Sun, a steady flow of passionate fans and just tenths of a second making the difference were the orders of the day in typical MotoGP style. Luca Marini and Joan Mir were at the centre of the action as the pair worked through several new items for their Honda RC213V machines. Signs were positive from both sides of the Honda HRC Castrol garage as the progress from previous rounds continued in Barcelona.
Luca Marini proved his performance in Hungary was no one off as he secured a top ten position on Friday and direct passage to Q2 in back-to-back races for the first time as a Honda HRC rider. Consistently inside the top five for both sessions, a best time of 1’38.522 secured him ninth when the afternoon time attacks came.
Progress was steady for Joan Mir as well, the 2020 World Champion improving by one and a half second between sessions. 13th overall, Mir was just over a tenth of a second shy of Ogura in tenth place despite missing out on a few final details having spent the morning adjusting to the track.
Saturday will surely be another exciting day of progress for both Honda HRC Castrol riders.