Marini perseveres for important Sprint data

An early fall for Joan Mir left Luca Marini as the lone Repsol Honda Team rider for the majority of the French Sprint race, the Italian staying focused and continuing to build for Sunday’s race.

Starting the day with practice and Q1, the Repsol Honda Team immediately picked up where they left off and continued hunting improvements. A step forward for Joan Mir saw him earn 18th on the grid, just behind Alex Marquez while Luca Marini earned 21st as he worked on closing the gap to his teammate. The pair had their sights set on forward progress as they lined up on the grid for Saturday afternoon’s 13-lap Sprint race.

A determined Luca Marini took positives from another completed race, more laps and more data taking him and the Repsol Honda Team another step closer to improvements. Finishing in 18th, the Italian quickly overcame his teammate as the race began and diligently went about his race. With the information gained, Marini and his team are planning one final adjustment in Sunday morning Warm Up before taking on the French Grand Prix in front of what is set to be a capacity crowd.

Joan Mir’s race would come to an early finish as he fell without injury at Turn 8 on Lap 4. He returned to the garage and retired from the race. Confident of pinpointing the issue that caused his fall and also his slow start to the race, Mir is aiming to bounce back on Sunday and is targeting points and top Honda honours.

The Repsol Honda Team now turn their attentions to Sunday’s French Grand Prix, 27 laps of the Le Mans circuit scheduled to start at 14:00 Local Time. Forecasts are beginning to darken and the unpredictability of a flag-to-flag could open endless possibilities.