Season best for Mir and Marini after Misano upgrades
The Repsol Honda Team head straight to Indonesia with a spring in their step after Joan Mir and Luca Marini put in a pair of commendable performances to seal 11th and 12th in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, finishing the best weekend of the year with their best race results.
Forward progress continued for the Repsol Honda Team at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as more data from new upgrades to the Honda RC213V helped to propel Joan Mir and Luca Marini to their best weekend of the season. Having taken their best grid positions of the year so far, the pair converted it to a double point-scoring finish as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend showed the first rewards from nine months of intense work throughout 2024 for HRC’s engineers.
Starting well when the lights went out on the 27-lap race, Joan Mir would almost immediately be sent to the back of the pack as another rider sent him wide. With buoyed confidence from overnight setup adjustments, Mir launched a strong comeback as he cut through the field and made his way to 11th. His lap times in the second half of the race were particularly impressive as the #36 mirrored the speed of those in the top ten. The result puts Mir back on track after taking only two points in seven rounds. A welcome boost in confidence, the double World Champion is determined to continue with this level of performance as the championship starts its stint in Asia.
Luca Marini delighted home fans with his performance on the way to 12th position – an impressive improvement on his previous best finish of 15th in Germany. Like his teammate, the early laps of the race limited the #10’s full potential as he worked to get his rear tyre into the optimal operating conditions. Once in the rhythm of the race, Marini joined Mir is scything through the field and enjoyed his best race of the season. Work and upgrades from the last races and tests have helped Marini and his side of the Repsol Honda Team to build a package they feel confident with, now aiming to work on refining the details and continuing their progress.
There’s little time to rest as the Indonesian Grand Prix starts on Friday, 27 September in Lombok, Indonesia. It will be a race across the world for riders, team members and the freight to hit the ground running at Round 15.
Joan Mir
“A really good race, the first time I could really push and really ride and enjoy being on the bike. I made a good start but then Raul was quite optimistic into the opening corners, so I went wide and dropped down to last. Then I got my head down and started to overtake, especially in the second half of the race I was really pleased with my performance. Not just the overtaking, but also the lap times which were the same as those guys in the top ten. 11th is a good result from where we are coming from and it’s really good to see improvements over the weekend. I have to also say thank you to my team for their work this weekend, my first in Misano, they did a good job to improve the feeling overnight. It’s encouraging and gives us all a boost as we head to Asia.”
Luca Marini
“I am really happy with this weekend. I fully enjoyed it and there are a lot of positives to take away from it. We have found a good package with the upgrades the Japanese have made; all of the engineers have been making a good effort and now we are starting to see it in the results. The first three laps with the rear are quite complicated still, we need to work on this because even starting in 15th, we are missing something in the first laps and it stops us fighting with the others. The new aero has helped a lot, but we have also improved a lot of other small areas in the last few outings. We can head to Indonesia with optimism to continue in this way. Thank you to everyone in the team who has been working hard and staying focused all year.”
Gran Premio dell'Emilia-Romagna Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 25 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 41'14.653 |
| 2 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 20 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 5.002 |
| 3 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 16 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 7.848 |
| 4 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 13 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 9.200 |
| 5 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 11 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 13.601 |
| 6 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 10 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 15.484 |
| 7 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 9 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 20.922 |
| 8 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 8 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 22.795 |
| 9 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 7 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 27.704 |
| 10 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 6 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 31.891 |
| 11 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 5 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 33.062 |
| 12 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 4 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 35.411 |
| 13 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 3 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 36.335 |
| 14 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 2 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 37.395 |
| 15 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 1 | LCR Honda | Honda | 38.909 |
| 16 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 40.454 |
| 17 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 46.394 |
| 18 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 0 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM | 47.755 |
| 19 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1'25.918 |
| 20 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | DNF | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | DNF |
| 21 | Acosta Pedro | 31 | SPA | DNF | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM | DNF |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 341 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 2 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 317 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 3 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 282 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 4 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 281 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 5 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 165 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 6 | Acosta Pedro | 31 | SPA | 157 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM |
| 7 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 149 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 8 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 127 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 9 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 121 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 10 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 121 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 11 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 108 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 12 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 102 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 13 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 73 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 14 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 71 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia |
| 15 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 58 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 16 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 49 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia |
| 17 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 22 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 18 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 21 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 19 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 20 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM |
| 20 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 21 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 15 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 22 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | 12 | KTM Test Team | KTM |
| 23 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | 7 | KTM Test Team | KTM |
| 24 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 5 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 25 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | 2 | HRC Test Team | Honda |
| 26 | Savadori Lorenzo | 32 | ITA | 0 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia |
| 27 | Gardner Remy | 87 | AUS | 0 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
Location Information
Close to the city of Rimini, the Misano Adriático circuit was constructed in 1972 and has since undergone an array of modifications. A regular scene for Italian Grands Prix throughout the 80s and early 90s, Misano returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2007.With updated facilities, track and grandstands, the Misano… read more.
| Length | 4.226 kilometres / 2.626 miles |
| Width | 14 metres |
| Left corners | 6 |
| Right corners | 10 |
| Longest straight | 0.565 kilometres / 0.351 miles |
| Constructed | 1969 |
| Modified | 2008 |
Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli", Via Daijiro Kato, Misano Adriatico, Rimini, Italy - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m30.031 (168.9 km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Lap | 1m30.877s (167.4km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Time | 41m14.653s (165.9 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Enea Bastianini (Ducati) |
