Repsol Honda Team confirm progress with strong Mandalika Friday

Luca Marini’s love affair with Lombok was reignited as he opened the weekend under half a second shy of first and a tenth from the top ten. Timing costs Joan Mir, but his potential is clear.

The positive sensations followed the Repsol Honda Team from Europe as the Indonesian GP weekend began under a blazing sun. Starting where they left off in Misano, Luca Marini and Joan Mir were immediately able to post competitive times throughout the day and improve to close the gap to the leaders once again. A respectable ninth in the morning, Marini set the pace for the Repsol Honda Team pairing with just 0.3s behind his teammate.

Marini would continue to improve his speed in the afternoon, putting in his best Friday performance of the year to end in 12th overall. Half a second from first and under 0.1s from the combined top ten, the Italian was initially frustrated to miss his first direct trip to Q2 by such a narrow margin but ultimately left positive and pleased with the ever-improving feeling of his Honda RC213V. The objective for Saturday is to continue with these improvements and once again battle for a spot in Q2, start further ahead and carry the momentum into the Sprint.

All the pieces are in place for Joan Mir to have another impressive weekend and the work is now to put these pieces together. Strong on longer runs, the #36 missed out on putting together a complete flying lap to end the day higher in the time sheets. Vibrations were again a key point for Mir and his side of the Repsol Honda Team garage, but the work during the Emilia Romagna weekend should set them up for further improvements.

The 13-lap Sprint race is scheduled to start at 15:00 Local Time on Saturday. Conditions are predicted to remain baking hot for the remainder of the weekend.