Jakarta [Indonesia], September 30 : A troublesome weekend ends for Joan Mir and Luca Marini, a pair of falls preventing them from showing their and the Honda RC213V's true potential. Tough times continued for the Repsol Honda Team at the Indonesian GP on Sunday after intense work had primed both riders to end the weekend on a high.
Joan Mir was caught up in the Turn 2 and was forced to stand up and run wide to avoid the falling riders ahead. Focusing on recovering the lost ground, he was closing the distance to Alex Rins when he lost the front at Turn One on lap 13. Unharmed in the fall, he was left to rue what could have been in a race where only 12 riders finished.
Luca Marini's luck lasted just one corner as he was involved in a multi-rider accident at Turn Two on the first lap after a strong start. A true disappointment as the Italian had shown potential to mirror his result from the previous weekend. He sustained no injuries in the fall.
Another chance at redemption is just around the corner for Mir and Marini, Honda's home race - the Japanese GP at Motegi Circuit, the very next stop and the third of three races in a row.
Joan Mir (DNF)
"We can't be happy with the weekend with all our bad luck, two crashes from two starts. I could see that the performance of the bike has improved but it's frustrating that we weren't able to put that onto the track finally. When you look at Zarco you can see that the upgrades Honda have prepared are a clear step. We will sit down and look for ways to keep improving again. Motegi should be a more normal weekend for us," said Repsol Honda Team rider Joan Mir.
"I couldn't really see what happened in the moment of the crash, but there were three or four riders all together in the change of direction and there was some contact somewhere and we all fell. Impossible to avoid it, this can happen, it's bad luck. A strange race for everyone, a shame that the bike was too damaged because there was the chance for some good points in the end. Bad luck at points this weekend, but we need to look at the overall job we've done and also what Zarco has done because our bike is becoming more competitive," said Repsol Honda Team rider Luca Marini.