Joan Mir had good pace aboard the RC213V for much of the grand prix before running into trouble later on at the MotoGP season-opener.

M🧸ir was part of a train of riders battling for 11th spot, and after overtaking Fabio Quartararo for said 11th place, the Spa🐈niard managed to stretch out a gap of one second.

But Mir used too much tyre 🔯in the process which cost him places to Quartararo and Jo𝄹hann Zarco.

“We 🥀made a great race, honestly,” said Mir. “I started well and recovered a lot of positions straight away.

“It’s been a long time since I was able to enjoy riding like that, so that is really positive. Startܫing at the back isn’t easy, but we made good ground to be with Fabio for m♑ost of the race. 

“In the last five laps♌ I felt like I had a little bit more than Quartarar♈o, so I overtook him and made a gap of one second.

“Then in the last two laps we dropped a lot, and we 𒅌lost some positions, which isn’t ideal. But still we are pleased with everything wඣe have done and always learning.”

While Mir showed Honda’s improvements, Luca Marini endured a very diffi𒀰cult first race as he finished nearly 18 seconds down on Takaaki Nakagami, who was directly ahead of him.

Marini said: “It’sไ encouraging to see the other H⛎onda riders, and especially Mir, fighting for good positions. 

“For us, it has be⛄en a continuation of our weekend today and we had a small issue which limited us in the race.

“I was able to understand a lot of things during the race which was very important, espec𒈔ially when I realised Miller was behind – I let him pass to ꧙study a little bit of what he was doing. 

“I think this will help us to understand more and more, to take some positives. We need time to keep t꧋rying things and getting more comfortable.”

Top Honda goes to Zarco

Not a debut after taking part in thre🍌e rac🎃es for Honda in 2019, Zarco finished 12th on his official return to LCR.

The Fastest Honda rider in qualifying Zarco faded in the sprint bu💫t managed to perform better in the longer grand prix.

“Today’s 12th position is proof that we’ve got potential,” stated the former Ducati rider. “I’ve had fun during the race and being🎃 there in the fight means we can do a good job𒁃 this season.

“Many thanks to the team for its 🐓work throughout the weekend; I know that step by step, we’ll reach our goals.”