Joan Mir’s seco𓆉nd season with Repsol Honda is unlikely to be much better than his first.

Last year, Mir publicly dis🐟cussed a shock retirement just months after leaving 𓆉Suzuki.

A crash-ridden 2023 has given way to a new season and Mꦑir’s best result, after four rounds, is P12 in Portimao🅰.

It is a far cry from 2𒅌020 when Mir became the MotoGP champion with Suzuki.

His future - and a possible future outside o⛄f MotoGP - was debated❀ at last weekend’s Jerez round.

“It’s 💖a tough one,” Sylvain Gui🌱ntoli said on TNT Sports.

“You get to a point - just like M꧅arc Marquez did a💞t Honda - where you lose motivation.

“Is it better to go and do something else?

“It’s a 💝tough one for Honda in that situation. They’ve got to manage the 🐈performance side, make the bike better.

“They also have to manage the riders, and their motivation. You have to 🅰keep your guys motivated.

“These guys are ဣstill the best in the world - they could go into another series and get some wins, they could be tempted to do something else.

“Because it does get depressꦉing. You’ve got more than 20 races but, basically, you are just racing and testing all year.

“If your bike is not up to the task, it’s a tough𝔍 one to keep the motivation.”

Neil Hodgson replied: “He’s not old. I know♈ Joan, he’s obsessive.

“If you are his manager, you’re tr꧋ying to get him on a Ducati or on a KTM.”

Mir wouldn’t be the fi💛rst rider to quit Honda in recent ☂years.

“Look at the Marquez brothers,” Guintoli said.

“Happy faces. Everyone is laughing in the box.

“They are on ten-times lessꦆ money but are having fun, and are in the mix to win races.”

Mir finished P9 in laꦇst w🌺eekend’s sprint (largely due to the huge amount of crashes in front of him) then P12 in the grand prix at Jerez.

Repsol Honda teammate Luca Marini is faring even worse in his first rounds on the bike, since jꦜoining from VR46.

Overall, 🐎Honda are bleak🌳ly at the back of the MotoGP and are watching on as even Yamaha, their fellow Japanese-manufactured strugglers, are outperforming them.

Mir, still only 26, is into the final year of his Honda contract so coඣuld be targetedཧ to go elsewhere.

But after twꦚo seasons of poor results, blighted by his below-par machinery, he may find himself with something t🐬o prove as new, hungry contenders jostle for the best seat on the 2025 grid.