P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Joan Mir has not had a Fabio Quartararo-level impact at Honda – but he remains its most important rider asset in MotoGP
Iconic MotoGP crew chief Jeremy Burgess once famously said, “if the rider wants gold handlebars, give him gold handlebars.” Yamaha’s efforts to convince Fabio Quartararo to stay have been extensive and well-documented, including hiring new talent from Europe to improve the M1’s development. Changes in Yamaha’s team, such as having an Italian engineer leading the development, have already shown promising results. On the other hand, Honda seems to need to learn this lesson soon if they want to keep their world champion rider Joan Mir beyond 2024 MotoGP season. Despite not showing Quartararo-esque impact at Honda yet, it’s clear that Honda needs Mir just as much, if not more, than he needs Honda. Mir himself has expressed uncertainties about committing to Honda again in the future, indicating that more time and patience may be needed for significant changes to take effect.
