MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Joan Mir has conceded that Honda HRC Castrol does not yet have a “fantastic package” ahead of the 2026 MotoGP season, following a disrupted opening day of the Buriram pre-season test.
Honda entered 2026 aiming to build on the clear progress made in 2025, a campaign that delivered a race win and three additional podium finishes as part of the manufacturer’s ongoing rebuild. Encouraging signs from Sepang suggested the upward trend was continuing, and Honda ended day one in Buriram fifth overall in the combined standings.
Mir himself finished seventh despite being restricted to a single bike for most of the day due to a technical issue. The Spaniard explained that early complications significantly affected the team’s programme.
“It was a little bit more complicated than I expected, because at the beginning of the day we had a problem with one of our bikes and we have to understand what happened, because we don’t know,” Mir said.
“And then when we moved to the other bike, something wasn’t right with that bike.
“So, we lost the morning. We wasted it. Then we started to work hard from midday to the afternoon, and it was positive.”
Although satisfied with his one-lap performance—achieved without any slipstream assistance—Mir acknowledged that Honda is still short of a fully refined and competitive overall package.
“We don’t have a fantastic package at the moment, but it’s true it allowed us to make a good lap time,” he added.
“I rode completely alone. It was not a bad lap time for the first day here.”
He also highlighted how the characteristics of the Buriram circuit amplify the importance of fine details, given the tight margins across the field.
“It’s true that here you cannot miss anything because the lap times are super close. The track is not super difficult, and that creates a lot of equality in the top 10.”
The early technical setback also limited Honda’s ability to carry out back-to-back comparisons—an essential component of pre-season testing under new technical refinements.
“We have more work than what I expected because of this thing in the morning,” Mir noted.
“They have worked today to understand many things, because when you only work with one bike, normally it’s the bike you try different things on.”
“We tried things without comparing to our base because we had that problem. That complicated the day a little bit, but we could figure it out.”
With limited testing time remaining before the season-opening Thai Grand Prix, Honda’s priority now shifts to consolidating its baseline set-up and improving overall consistency. While the outright lap time suggests the RC213V retains competitive potential, Mir’s assessment indicates that further refinement is required before Honda can consider itself fully equipped to challenge at the front in 2026.
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