Mugello challenges for Honda HRC Castrol on Friday

A day of hard work and steps forward for Joan Mir and his new teammate Takaaki Nakagami as the pair got to grips with the Honda RC213V in Mugello.

Tuscan summer arrived early in Mugello as temperatures sat in the mid 30s for the entirety of Friday, a challenge for riders and mechanics alike. Despite the demanding conditions, the Italian GP weekend opened in productive fashion for the Honda HRC Castrol team as both Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami avoided any upset to extract the most from both practice sessions.

Finding his speed in the afternoon, Mir was amongst the first to put in his time attack run in the afternoon and rocketed from 16th to sixth. Ending the day with a best lap of 1’45.652, the #36 has found almost a full second since his last Friday appearance at Mugello in 2024. Top speed remains the key area to try and improve down Mugello’s 1.1 kilometre long straight. Making the most of the challenging circuit is the objective for the rest of the weekend.

Nakagami adapted to the factory team quickly, ending the morning session as the second fastest Honda and only a second from first. Finding another second of speed between the morning and the afternoon, the Japanese Test Rider kept pace with his teammate to end the day in 20th. 0.4s behind Mir, Nakagami is targeting improvements to his riding to close the gap further.

Both Honda HRC Castrol riders will appear in Q1 tomorrow, guaranteed to be an intense session as 12 riders duke it out for just two spots in Q2. The 15-minute Qualifying session is scheduled to start at 10:50 Local Time, with the 11-lap Sprint race following shortly after at 15:00 Local Time.