Repsol Honda’s decision to keep Joan Mir alongside Luca Marini 💜next year gives them the best chance to develop, it is claimed.

Mir’♌s new contract, which ties him to Honda for two more years, was perhaps surprising due to his struggles since joining from Suzꩵuki.

Such was h🔜is misery last ye🌟ar, his first riding the Honda, he contemplated retirement.

But after Mir confirmed he would stay for 2025 and 2026,♛ TNT Sport꧃s’ Sylvain Guintoli reacted: “For Joan and for Honda, keeping the same line-up is a good idea.

“The situat൲ion that they found themselves i𝔍n, at the moment, is to catch up.

“From the start when Honda🌳 started to make changes to the aero side and the chassis, for [Mir and Marini] sticking wit♋h that project is a good idea.

“Wheಌn you try to rebuild a project, y𒀰ou need consistency.

“Putting two new riders on, it would be more diff💞icu🤡lt to get good feedback.

“These guys know what does not work.

“For the evolution of the bike, these guys are the best guys to ꧋assess it.”

Marini joined Repsol Honda this season𓂃, becoming a factory rider for the ওfirst time after leaving VR46.

But he has been glued to the back of the grid for t♏he entire season, and is rooted to the bottom of the MotoGP standings.

With just one point all season, Marini is below even Dani Pedr🍎osa who rode once as a wildcard.

Mir has fared slightly better in his second season on the below-par🅷 bike.

Honda🥂 will introduce a new engine at the next round in 𝔍Austria.

Both Mir and Marini have run a less ♔powerful version of Honda’s engine at the past three rounds, as they sought the ideal optimisation of the bike.

This year’s revised co🌳ncessions rules give Honda the opportunity to introduce a new engine midway through the season, designed to power their progression back to the front.