Honda’s Mir sets record at Sepang on second day of MotoGP test

SEPANG: Honda MotoGP rider Joan Mir (pic) turned up the heat by leading the rain affected second day of MotoGP testing as Yamaha encountered major technical drama at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday.

Spanish-born Mir, who is best known for winning the MotoGP world title with Suzuki, became the first ever rider to dip under 1:57s at Sepang after producing an impressive lap of 1:56.874s, which he set in the opening hour.

His cracking effort would not be bested after the final part of the day was lost to rain.

It marked the first time Honda have topped a test day since 2022.

Italian rider Franco Morbidelli of Pertamina Enduro VR46 came in second at 1:56.983 and was the only other rider to break the 1:57s barrier.

Morbidelli’s teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio, also from Italy, was third with 1:57.049.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pedro Acosta and Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Maverick Vinales rounded out the top five.

Honda machines roared on track yesterday but it was a downer instead for their Japanese counterpart Yamaha.

Yamaha’s new V4 engine concept will be raced this season but the Japanese marque is now on the back foot after sitting out all of Wednesday due to technical issues.

Yamaha suffered a setback when former world champion Fabio Quartararo had to pull out from the rest of the testing at Sepang after crashing and injuring his shoulder.

Yamaha technical director Max Bartolini said they had to withdraw from the second test day after failing to find a clear solution to the technical problem.

“We have an idea but considering the safety of our riders and also the other riders, we decided before coming back on track to really understand the problem and what we should do to be safer.

“We then decided not to run and to keep checking and try to figure out for tomorrow. Hopefully, we can find a good solution for this evening, and we can run tomorrow once we get confirmation from the factory.”