Honda’s Joan Mir said the Japanese manufacturer knows why his MotoGP bike broke down during the Portuguese Grand Prix, but “I don’t know.”
The 2020 world champion showed strong pace throughout the weekend in Portimao but was unable to translate that into a race result due to a series of technical issues.
In the sprint, a clutch problem caused him to fall to the back of the grid on the opening lap, forcing him to pit.
Then, in the Grand Prix, he was eliminated from the beginning due to an unrelated problem.
Ahead of this weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix, Joan Mir said Honda diagnosed what happened to his bike in Portugal last Sunday, but he doesn’t know what they found.
But he also dismissed his technical drama as “part of the evolution” of this year’s bike.
“Well, the teams are. I’m no. I don’t know. But if they understand what happened to avoid these races, then fine,” he said.
“I think this is also part of the evolution of bikes.
“Problems like this can happen. It’s unfortunate that it happens two in a row.”
“I don’t think this has happened historically, but that’s part of it.
“I can’t say much about it. We just have to try and avoid it for the future.
“As you can imagine, I was frustrated in Portimao.
“However, I have made many mistakes in the past, so I have no regrets.
“The important thing is that, if possible, we can be strong here too.
“I think we were among the fastest in Portimao, so the confidence level is high. So we want to do the same here.”
If Honda were to score nine points over the weekend in Valencia, they would enter the winter of 2026 without receiving any major concessions.
The main one is a freeze on engine development, with the Japanese brand planning to introduce three major upgrades to the motor in 2025 based on current concession rankings.