Marc Marquez believes he can take Honda forward again with Joan Mir as his teammate, and praises one quality in particular about the Suzuki rider
Late last month Repsol-Honda and Joan Mir confirmed what had long been an open secret: the Suzuki rider will take over Pol Espargaro’s place in the Honda factory team in 2023 and become Marc Marquez’s new teammate.
This is the second Suzuki rider to dock with Honda after Alex Rins. Rins will ride for the satellite team LCR in the next MotoGP season. Marquez was already positive about his signing during his visit to Spielberg. At Misano recently, he also commented on the arrival of Mir.
“Mir is one of the best riders that was available on the market. Above all, he is able to adapt. He has that adaptability when it comes to different conditions, different bikes,” the Honda rider holds.
“You see him in motocross, flat track or even karting, in mixed conditions, and he is always there, he is always fast. And he’s a MotoGP world champion.” In 2020, Mir won the premier class title with Suzuki. Three years earlier he had secured the overall victory in the Moto3 class.
After just one season in Moto2, the Spaniard moved up. He eventually became world champion in his second year in MotoGP. Looking ahead to the new rider pairing for 2023, Marquez is therefore confident: “I think we have a very strong team. I guess Mir and also myself can be at the front.”
“But it’s true that we have to work together,” he continues, “and by together I mean with Honda, to achieve the real goal, which is to fight for race wins and the world championship.” That was only achieved with Marquez recently.
But the Spaniard was repeatedly slowed down by his upper arm injury. At the Misano test on Tuesday and Wednesday he celebrated his comeback on the MotoGP Honda. In the World Championship standings, he is still the best Honda rider despite his long absence, ranking 15th with 60 points.
Mir’s season has also been mixed so far. Since Suzuki announced its plans to retire, he has crashed more often than he has seen the chequered flag. In his last race crash in Spielberg he injured his right ankle and had to take a break in Misano. For Aragon, however, Mir hopes to be fit again.
