During the intermediate day of the test MotoGP at Sepang, the Honda RC213V and Joan mir set the new benchmark for the day early in the morning, before the weather limited afternoon driving.
After one first positive day, the team Honda HRC Castrol immediately resumed work on Wednesday on the circuit of 5,54 km located in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. This second day has once again confirmed that, even at an early stage, the Honda RC213V 2026 continues the upward trajectory initiated in 2025, with engineers continuing to refine every detail.
Joan mir led the offensive by striking hard from the morning onwards with a time of
1'56.874i.e
six tenths faster than his Q2 time at the Malaysian Grand Prix a few months ago, where he qualified 7th on the starting grid !
An impressive time, even though the 2021 world champion and Honda HRC remain fully focused on the work to be done, with much more to come throughout the 2026 season. Rain then limited his riding to just two laps after the lunch break.
Joan mir#36, Honda HRC Castrol:
“I think we can be happy with today’s lap time! This morning I felt really strong and was able to push hard to set a good time. My confidence is growing and that was reflected today, especially with a new tire. We worked on the fast lap in the morning before getting back to the development puzzle. Tomorrow we’ll have to take another step forward and make up for the time lost due to the rain. For now, I’m satisfied with what we’ve done, but there’s still a lot of work to do after this test.”
There's still one day of testing left, and Honda HRC Castrol intends to make the most of it before heading to Thailand for the second test and the first race of the season. There's still work to be done, but these first two days have clearly allowed Honda HRC to maintain its momentum at the start of the new year.
MotoGP Test Sepang Joan Mir
