According to what Motorsport.com has learned, Joan Mir will continue to race in MotoGP for another two seasons and will do so with Honda, with whom he has reached an agreement until the end of 2026. The Majorcan will thus arrive at eight seasons since he made his debut in riding Suzuki in 2019. He raced with the big S manufacturer for four years, until 2022, moving to Honda the following year.
Since his arrival in the garage of the Tokyo manufacturer’s factory team, Mir has contested a total of 22 races, 15 last year, without obtaining any podium or pole. His best result in HRC colors was a fifth place at the 2023 Indian Grand Prix.
Although neither he nor other riders of the winged manufacturer have been able to make the RC213V competitive in recent years, Honda has appreciated the Majorcan’s progress and his indications in the development of the bike. Thus, he became the first choice to complete next year’s line-up. He will still be together with Luca Marini, who has a contract until the end of 2025.
Mir is currently the highest Honda rider in the world championship standings, 18th with 13 points, four ahead of Johann Zarco (19th), five ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (20th) and well ahead of Luca Marini, who is 24th ° and still hasn’t scored a point after seven Grands Prix.
Although there has been speculation about several names, the reality is that Honda has always looked to Mir as their first choice. According to Motorsport.com, the two parties have already reached a verbal agreement which will be announced shortly.
Goodbye to the ghosts of retirement
The agreement between Honda and Mir is excellent news on two fronts. On the one hand, because it means that the ghosts of a premature retirement of the 2020 MotoGP champion have been completely removed. After a disappointing start to the season and some private tests in which the direction of the bike had completely deviated from his indications, Mir had seriously considered the idea of returning home at the end of the season, at the age of 27. However, in the latest tests Honda has rectified the situation and there seems to be some light at the end of the RC213V’s development tunnel, which has strengthened the #36 rider’s motivation.
Another good news is that Honda is still negotiating long-term contracts, which means that speculation and fears of a possible farewell, as Suzuki did in 2022, are not on their roadmap before 2027. Right then This year the new technical regulations will come into force in the MotoGP World Championship, a unique opportunity for Japanese manufacturers, who currently enjoy full development concessions, to catch up with European competition.
With the renewal of Mir, Honda has ensured the continuity for the next season of three of its riders: the Majorcan, the Italian Marini and, in LCR, the French Johann Zarco, both under contract. These are added to the list of riders for the 2025 grid, which also includes Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez in the official Ducati; Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta in KTM, Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini in Tech3, Fabio Quartararo in Yamaha and Jorge Martin in Aprilia.
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