The "post-Marquez" phase continues to take shape for Honda, with all the the difficulties and hopes that this brings. It is no mystery that the Tokyo-based manufacturer is having a tough time of late, both technically and in terms of results. And yet, we are perhaps starting to see signs of growth and a ray of light, albeit pale. During the first two days of testing at Sepang, the lap times and general sensations aboard the bike give the Honda technicians and riders an initial reason to smile.

Joan Mir’s time attack puts him inside the top ten. A best of 1'57.872 sees him place 0.738 of a second behind the day’s leader Enea Bastianini but also six tenths ahead of where he was in qualifying during the 2023 Malaysian round. Luca Marini closes further back, in seventeenth with a 1'58.394 (but without attempting a time attack), so 1.6 seconds from Bastianini. At the end of day two, the Honda new-entry is as solid as ever in his analysis, the rider underlining the bike’s positive aspects, despite the fact that the path towards competitiveness is still a long one.

Joan Mir: "We are starting to see the bike’s potential"

Following Marc Marquez’s departure, the first rider in the Honda camp is now Joan Mir, who seeks better feeling ahead of a season that will be crucial for his career: "Yesterday we tried a lot of things and today was about confirming those things which were working well. Today we had a base that I was comfortable with, so that is a great step". The Spaniard goes on to analyse his time attack: "I was able to improve my lap time by quite a lot. Already 0.6s faster than in qualifying here last year where I was ahead of my teammate. We are seeing the potential that’s there, and I am happy with what we’ve done today, but we have to stay grounded and keep on working because there is still some margin. One last day here before we start thinking about the Qatar test.”

Luca Marini: "Tomorrow we’ll focus on the time attack"

Cool, analytical and without emotion. Luca Marini’s approach remains the same, despite the difficult move from Ducati to Honda: "Another busy day. I did a long run alongside trying many different things. The long run showed us many things and we were able to understand the work we need to do because I was wanting a bit more from it. It was positive to understand the bike and how it changes with the tyre wear during the course of a race. With new tyres I feel quite good, so we need to match that feeling when the tyres are more used. This is why we go testing, to understand these points and to use the time we have to keep working on them. Time to rest and prepare for the last day here in Malaysia.”