Joan Mir was also the best Honda rider in the final results of the two days of testing in Portimão. The newcomer to the Repsol factory team complained regarding his main problems with his bike in the area of throttle response. Together with crew chief Giacomo Guidotti, he meticulously took care of the detailed work and kept drawing comparisons with his now-defunct Suzuki factory team.
The fact that the Mallorcan was also the best Honda driver in 13th place in Portimão was of absolutely secondary importance to Joan Mir (25). While the results of the 2017 Moto3 World Champion earned respect from the observers at the track, following all he was 13 hundredths of a second faster than Honda’s lighthouse Marc Márquez in the final ranking of the tests, Mir still saw central problems that needed to be solved.
“During take-off attempts, I had such wheelies that I almost thought my RC213V would lift off the ground like a plane. I don’t see the problem as much in the electronics as in the rough characteristics of the engine.”
The torque curve is so brutal that for the time being he still has the greatest difficulty in adapting it to his driving style. “The development of the Honda’s torque is so complex that I’m still trying to adapt it to my riding style,” said the 2020 MotoGP World Champion. “Obviously that’s a huge difference to Suzuki, where we put the puzzle together almost perfectly had.”
«Especially with the wheelies, with today’s aero packages, you have the greatest difficulty in bringing the bike back to the ground. It can’t be like that. The interaction with the clutch is also tricky in the current configuration, but I saw during the start attempts that I’m by no means the only driver who still has problems here.”
Despite the difficult starting position, the twelve-time GP winner feels absolutely comfortable with Honda. “We have a lot of people on the team who pull together quite a lot. We will solve the problems with the launch control. I know all this from the development at Suzuki.”
At the end he also tried a “time attack”, Joan Mir described. But he was aware that this currently does not make much sense. Because he hasn’t put everything together correctly in his Honda package. It’s just not the right moment to exaggerate here. “I also tried a sprint race distance for nine laps. But not with the last effort. For example, we only used used tires.”
Portimão Test, combined times (11/12/3):
1. Bagnaia, Ducati, 1:37.968 min
2. Zarco, Ducati, + 0.296 sec
3. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,334
4. Marini, Ducati, + 0.342
5. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.383
6. Bastianini, Ducati, +0.405
7. Alex Márquez, Ducati, + 0,434
8. Martin, Ducati, +0.466
9. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,512
10. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.601
11. Oliveira, Aprilia, + 0.616
12. Vinales, Aprilia, +0.710
13. Mir, Honda, +0.794
14. Marc Marquez, Honda, +0.810
15. Kidneys, Honda, + 0.814
16. Raul Fernandez, Aprilia, +0.886
17. Miller, KTM, + 0,941
18. Pol Espargaro, GASGAS, +1,006
19. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1,098
20. Nakagami, Honda, +1,341
21. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, +1.673
22. Augusto Fernández, GASGAS, + 1,699
23. Pirro, Ducati, + 2,131
24. Bradl, Honda, +2,194
Results Portimão test, Sunday (12.3.):
1. Bagnaia, Ducati, 1:37.968 min
2. Zarco, Ducati, + 0.296 sec
3. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,334
4. Marini, Ducati, + 0.342
5. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.383
6. Bastianini, Ducati, +0.405
7. Alex Márquez, Ducati, + 0,434
8. Martin, Ducati, +0.466
9. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,512
10. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.601
11. Oliveira, Aprilia, + 0.616
12. Vinales, Aprilia, +0.710
13. Mir, Honda, +0.794
14. Marc Marquez, Honda, +0.810
15. Kidneys, Honda, + 0.814
16. Raul Fernandez, Aprilia, +0.886
17. Miller, KTM, + 0,941
18. Pol Espargaro, GASGAS, +1,006
19. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1,098
20. Nakagami, Honda, +1,341
21. Augusto Fernández, GASGAS, + 1,699
22. Pirro, Ducati, + 2,131
Results Portimão test, Saturday (11.3.):
1. Bagnaia, Ducati, 1:38.771 min
2. Marini, Ducati, + 0.234 sec
3. Vinales, Aprilia, +0.254
4. Alex Márquez, Ducati, + 0,565
5. Raul Fernandez, Aprilia, +0.689
6. Oliveira, Aprilia, + 0.695
7. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.837
8. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,843
9. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, +0.870
10. Martin, Ducati, +0.872
11. Kidneys, Honda, + 0.875
12. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.877
13. Zarco, Ducati, +0.945
14. Mir, Honda, +1.005
15. Brad Binder, KTM, + 1,152
16. Miller, KTM, + 1,216
17. Bastianini, Ducati, +1.238
18. Bradl, Honda, +1,391
19. Marc Marquez, Honda, +1,399
20. Pirro, Ducati, + 1,565
21. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1,643
22. Pol Espargaro, GASGAS, +1,736
23. Nakagami, Honda, +1,871
24. Augusto Fernández, GASGAS, + 2,000