Mir admits 2024 concessions won’t improve Honda’s MotoGP results

factory hrc rider joan meer He believes the concessions did not significantly improve Honda’s results in MotoGP this year.

MotoGP revamped its concession system in 2024 to help Honda and Yamaha close the gap with European manufacturers after both Japanese giants were largely eliminated from the competition last year.

Among other things, Honda was given wide freedom to introduce new developments on the track, including different engine specifications, while Mir and teammates Luca Marini Permission to participate in private trials was also given.

However, Honda still finished bottom of the manufacturers’ rankings and ended the year with only 75 points, less than half of the 185 points it scored in 2023. mark marquez Was part of its factory team.

That’s why Mir feels the concessions, despite their intended purpose, do not help Honda break out of the current slump in MotoGP.

Asked where Honda would have been this year if it had not had the luxury of concessions, he said: “This year we are probably in the same place.

“I hope this will help us for the next one. But we did not get any benefit in the short term. We see it in the results (that there was no improvement).

“We have to find a way to get good pieces (on the bike) that help us be faster. “At the moment, we couldn’t get it.”

Mir also felt that his schedule in 2024 was busier than usual due to additional testing duties, leading him to wonder if there was any benefit to allowing race riders to ride bikes outside of Grand Prix weekends.

He said, “Factory riders are able to do more testing, I don’t think it’s an advantage because if the bike is better I’ll be faster.”

“That’s why we have a Test team. If we go to test something and we stay all day from one week to the next, we are not psychologically rested.

“We go through a test, a race, a test, a race (and so on). Sometimes it’s worse, (not) better.

“That’s why we have a testing team that is now being reinforced and we have to work to get them the appropriate materials. Whatever they think is working, we try (that) at the GP and we see that it is better.

Honda strengthens its test team for 2025 with three-time grand prix winner alex espargaro join in Stefan Bradl In Europe and LCR Rider Takaaki Nakagami Retiring from active duties to take up Japan-focused testing role.

Mir believes these changes, coupled with the concessions, could provide some much-needed gains for Honda next year.

“The test team (this year) was not (big) enough,” he said. “We only had one test rider, and to be honest, we could have improved the infrastructure of the test team a lot, so they And I think it’s going to be great for next year.”