The 2024 RC213V has been radically overhauled following a disastrous 2023 campaign in which Honda finished last in the constructors’ standings, lost Marc Marquez to Gresini Ducati, and managed just two grand prix podiums – albeit one being a win.
Although testing showed reasonable steps forward for the new bike, Honda still isn’t closer to being able to battle at the front consistently.
Mir, the 2020 world champion, scored just 26 points in a miserable maiden Honda campaign in 2023 but does feel better on the new bike – which he calls ‘an actual MotoGP bike’.
However, he still feels on the back foot having not gotten the bike to the level he would have wanted for the first round of the season, which he hopes to simply “survive”.
“Well, the truth is that a lot of things are new,” he said of the new Honda on Thursday at the Qatar GP.
“The bike is completely different, as you can see. It looks like more like an actual MotoGP bike this year.
“I’m enjoying more to ride this bike, I’m able to be faster. When you enjoy more on the bike you are able to be fast.
“But it’s true that after the last day of the last test, I had a bad feeling because I was not able to feel great on the last day.
Source: Autosport