Luca Marini: “The direction is correct and we need more time”
MADRID, 8 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish MotoGP rider Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) assured that they have made a lot of progress in these three days of official testing in Sepang (Malaysia) and that Honda should be “proud” of the progress, with the Spaniard being tenth overall in the training sessions. and improving a lot from one day to the next.
“I think Honda has to be proud of what they have done here during the test because we have made a lot of progress. Today was my best lap in Sepang, so it was a clear step forward and finishing as the best Honda is a positive point “he said in statements provided by the team.
Mir achieved a best time of 1:58.741 on the first day and leaves Sepang with a 1:57.374, in a sign of the “continuous progress” that Mir and Repsol Honda, according to the team, have made in Sepang in these three days of official preseason training sessions.
That's it, before noon this Thursday, Joan Mir suffered a small fall in the last corner and had to return to the box, without consequences. The one from Mallorca finishes these three days in tenth position in the combined times.
“There is still work to do to close the gap further, but there is time to continue working. I had a small crash in the last corner that perhaps prevented us from improving the time further, since it was a good lap. But this can happen” , he commented.
For his part, his teammate Luca Marini did a total of 122 laps around Sepang to adapt as quickly as possible to his new Honda. With a best time of 1:58.026, the Italian finished in 19th position overall and was satisfied with his and the team's improvement.
“There are many positive things from all these days, especially from these last three days with all the other riders to understand our potential. Joan has done a very good lap in the 'time attack', he knows the bike well and I have to continue working to understand it as well as he does, but it is positive to see the potential,” he said.
“There is room for improvement with the set-up, which is what we have focused on today. The direction we are going in is correct, we just need more time on the bike to continue advancing and improving. Now we focus on preparing for the test of Qatar and the race, but I'm looking forward to getting back on the track,” added Marini.