So far as title defences go, Jorge Martin’s can be appeared again on as arguably the worst ever. Shifting to the manufacturing facility Aprilia squad on the conclusion of his championship-winning marketing campaign in 2024 was billed a tricky problem, however one which in the end might have actually upset the apple cart in a Ducati-dominated panorama.
But it surely has simply been one nightmare after one other. Two huge accidents pre-season stored him out for the primary three rounds. When he returned in Qatar, he was struck by a 3rd main damage battle which might sideline him till July’s Czech Grand Prix.
Within the interim, he engaged in a messy contract dispute to attempt to give up Aprilia for Honda for the 2026 season. That in the end didn’t go his approach. And simply as he was starting to make real strides, he made a “critical misjudgement” – as his Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola termed – at first of the Japanese Grand Prix dash, which resulted in a tangle with team-mate Marco Bezzecchi and a displaced fracture to his proper shoulder.
Martin needed to watch his time as reigning world champion expire from a hospital mattress forward of surgical procedure in Barcelona, as Marc Marquez wrapped up the 2025 world title on Sunday at Motegi.
If there’s one rider on the grid who can perceive Martin’s scenario properly, then it’s 2020 world champion Joan Mir. The Spaniard didn’t endure the identical damage hell as Martin did, however the speedy fall that adopted his sudden rise was a stark reminder of one thing Mir himself made point out of on Sunday on the Japanese Grand Prix: you’re solely nearly as good as your final outcome.
From the second Mir popped up on the grand prix scene as a substitute rider at Leopard Racing in 2015 on the Australian Grand Prix, he was destined to get to the massive leagues. He gained a race in his rookie 2016 marketing campaign earlier than dominating Moto3 in 2017 with 10 victories to be topped world champion.
Learn extra: Joan Mir breaks MotoGP podium drought
He spent one yr in Moto2 in 2018 earlier than Davide Brivio snatched him up for Suzuki in MotoGP for the 2019 marketing campaign. A yr later, he can be topped world champion in one among MotoGP’s wildest years, going through not solely the pressures of on-track warfare however the brand new concern of a optimistic COVID-19 check outcome forcing him right into a 14-day quarantine.
The doorways for that title have been blown open when Marquez suffered the intense arm damage that may alter the trajectory of his profession on the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix. Mir didn’t actually begin the marketing campaign off all that properly, however then proved to be the one constant runner all through the sphere – a lot in order that he very almost gained the title with out topping a podium. He broke that duck within the European Grand Prix in Valencia, earlier than sealing a primary title for Suzuki in 20 years on the follow-up Valencia Grand Prix.
In 2021, the Suzuki package deal didn’t develop on the identical charge as its rivals and Mir was pinned again. He didn’t win once more and achieved simply six podiums. He was third on the finish of a marketing campaign that was much more stable than was given credit score for on the time and is remembered for at present.
The 2022 season was the place the wheels actually fell, off, although. The season began solidly sufficient with 4 prime six finishes within the first 5 rounds. At this stage, Mir and his administration have been nearing a deal to re-sign with Suzuki for 2023. After which the Japanese model sensationally pulled the plug on its manufacturing facility programme.
Mir needed to scramble to discover a new experience with a market worth that had crashed within the wake of Suzuki’s departure. Between sixth on the Spanish Grand Prix when Suzuki made its choice and breaking his ankle on the Austrian Grand Prix, he completed twice in seven rounds. A Honda deal was secured for 2023, however his fortunes wouldn’t enhance.
The uncompetitive RC213V that successfully ended Marc Marquez’s time as a Honda rider in 2023 additionally stung Mir horribly, with the 2020 world champion breaking his leg in Italy. That adopted a non-start in Argentina and three successive DNFs from COTA to Le Mans. The spotlight of a yr during which he contemplated stopping was a fifth in India.
The distress carried into 2024, with no prime 10s and a meagre complete of 21 factors as Honda suffered its worst yr of the trendy period. A look on the scoresheet in 2025 doesn’t paint an altogether higher image on the face of it: 10 GP non-finishes and 18 crashes for the season.
However velocity has not been briefly provide for Honda or for Mir, who has been the unlucky sufferer on fairly a number of events of different folks’s incidents. On the Japanese Grand Prix, he provided a well timed reminder of his class, as he narrowly missed pole and went on to attain his first podium as a Honda rider and first for the reason that 2022 Algarve Grand Prix, 1422 days prior.
Joan Mir, 2025 Japanese MotoGP
Honda will get its personal full circle second at Motegi
“In sport basically, you’re what you make in your final race, however not significantly with me,” Mir stated. “I feel everybody has the identical drawback. On the finish, it’s very simple to cover behind the telephone and to discuss shit that doesn’t give any profit to anybody. However, on the finish, I do know what I achieved. I feel the those who is aware of slightly bit about this world and about sports activities basically worth the whole lot as how it’s.”
With Johann Zarco proving aggressive on the Honda for properly over a yr now and Luca Marini starting to be a way more outstanding drive, Mir has been going through elevated stress. That’s solely going to accentuate subsequent yr as Honda will get set to turn into a significant participant on the rider marketplace for 2027.
That Honda is now in that place is one thing that may be traced again to the final time it stood on the rostrum with one among its manufacturing facility group bikes. Earlier than Mir’s third at Motegi final weekend, the works group hadn’t celebrated a outcome like since Marc Marquez was third on the Japanese Grand Prix two years prior.
And there wasn’t actually a lot to have fun. In what was a torrid yr for Honda, its sole Sunday rostrum got here due to heavy rain. Furthermore, it was by the hands of a rider who a number of days later would formally half methods with the model he’d been with for the reason that finish of 2012 to pursue a profession rebuilding experience at Gresini Ducati.
Learn extra: Why Marc Marquez ‘closing the circle’ has ended MotoGP’s GOAT debate
On the time, Marquez considered it pragmatically.
“I feel that on this choice proper now for subsequent yr, it’s additionally a win-win choice,” he stated in Valencia in 2023. “Why? As a result of I’ll transfer to a motorbike that’s main the championship and I’ll attempt to obtain my goal, which is to attempt to really feel aggressive once more.
“Feeling aggressive doesn’t imply successful, it simply means to really feel aggressive and experience extra comfortably and attempt to battle for the highest positions in some races. The fact is that each one the finances they pay to me will go to the bike. That can be vital.
“My consolation zone was right here, to remain right here and experience the bike and take the wage and no stress. However I consider now [what] is one of the best for the challenge is that they may make investments all of [what they paid me] into the bike. Honda is Honda. Honda will come again to the highest with or with out me. So, I consider they’ll do it.”
Marquez’s wage at Honda on the time was not thoughtless – one thing within the area of €15-20 million. However within the wake of his departure, Honda did begin to make investments. It started working with a extra European mentality and even poached Romano Albesiano from Aprilia to turn into technical director from this season. That pondering has continued, with Honda now snaring former KTM engine chief Kurt Trieb.
The check group was additionally beefed up, with Aleix Espargaro introduced in following his retirement from racing alongside Takaaki Nakagami.
From a better of eighth final yr, Honda has celebrated a race win (albeit in moist situations), a second within the dry at Silverstone and a 3rd within the dry on advantage at Motegi. There was clear, tangible enhancements to the bike package deal because the season has gone on and that isn’t slowing down into 2026 regardless of a laws shift on the horizon for the yr after.
It was becoming that Honda ought to be capable of share within the celebrations with Marquez final weekend as he wrapped up his seventh world title. But it surely was additionally a reminder of how far it has come since 2023. For all of the genius that Marquez posses, his leaving Honda was in the end the appropriate factor for the model and on the proper time.
As Marquez stated two years in the past, it’s a win-win for each events…
