Factory Honda rider Joan Mir says he understands why Johann Zarco was able to comprehensively outperform him in MotoGP in 2024 despite being on satellite machinery.
While Mir endured arguably his worst season in the premier class on the uncompetitive and unreliable RC213V, Zarco was able to achieve some shock results on the same bike after joining the LCR team.
The ex-Pramac Ducati rider cracked the top 10 on two occasions in the second half of the season, ending the year with 55 points compared to just 21 for Mir and 14 for his fellow HRC rider Luca Marini.
Mir, who failed to finish higher than 11th in a Sunday race this year, believes the disparity in results was down to Zarco doing a better job riding around the Honda's limitations.
While the Spaniard was particularly affected by chattering – tyre vibration – in the second half of the season, he felt the characteristics of the bike suited his Honda stablemate.
“For some reason [Zarco] is able to make one lap [without issues],” he said.
“For me [it is] the area where I especially struggle the most because of the problems we have of vibrations and this. And for him it's an area where he struggles less.
“We are trying to understand. He is able to do something that we cannot at the moment. And every time I try a bit more I finish on the ground.
“We have to understand but we are a bit in an evolution of the bike, so for some reason we have so many unexpected problems that make you ride in a strange way.
“Probably that way is matching him [and his riding style] very well, especially with the new tyre, but not for me at all.
“I hope we have to make something to improve the bike or I have to adapt. At the moment I could not.”
Although Zarco scored just a single grand prix victory during his four-year stint in Ducati’s stable, he earned plenty of plaudits in 2024 for being able to exploit the maximum out of the troubled RC213V.
The Frenchman was easily the quickest rider within Honda, and with Takaaki Nakagami also bringing in a solid haul of 31 points, LCR managed to beat the factory HRC team in the championship.
Zarco said he was aware of his 2024 results generating a positive response and felt his decision to leave Pramac for a new challenge at Honda had already been vindicated.
“I heard overall from the French media, or what I could see on social [media], that they have been kind of impressed by the way I did this season and by my approach,” he said.
“We could think that I could get crazy [at Honda], but that was also my challenge, my personal challenge. So that's very positive and the motivation is really high.
“I hope this step back I did will help me to jump further, that [it] will be the best thing. I'm happy for that.
“Staying at Ducati is pretty tough because all the bikes are pretty fast, so then the judgement is not the same.
“I accepted a different challenge and I kind of wanted it, which is positive for this year.”
