Joan Mir says his recent string of crashes in MotoGP was caused by him overcompensating for Honda’s weaknesses - and insists he has “no regrets” about this.
The Spaniard has arguably been Honda’s fastest rider so far in 2026, but has just one points finish to his name from the opening three flyaways.
At the season opener in Thailand, a tyre issue forced him out of fourth place, while he also crashed out of both races in Brazil while suffering from illness. However, his double DNF in the US GP was entirely of his own making, leaving him with just three points on the table compared to 23 for his team-mate Luca Marini.
After qualifying an excellent fifth at Austin, Mir was chasing KTM’s Pedro Acosta for the final spot on the podium when he tucked the front on the last lap of the sprint. With Acosta later handed a time penalty for a tyre pressure infringement, Mir would have been promoted to third even if he had stayed behind his countryman.
More points went begging on Sunday when, after serving a long-lap penalty for cutting a corner, he hit the deck again while running in sixth. On both occasions in Austin, he had been comfortably ahead of the other Honda riders.
Defending his recent spate of incidents, Mir said that Honda’s persistent rear grip issues force him to push harder on corner entry, putting excessive load on the front tyre and leaving him vulnerable to crashes.
“That was a promising weekend that we couldn't finish in a good way,” he said about Austin. “I was in a position to attack and to recover as much as I could on the entry, the amount of speed we need on the exit. And the front collapsed.
Mir also called on Honda to make further improvements to the RC213V, stating that the Japanese marque’s current competitive situation forces him to take additional risks.
“We have to improve the rear to ride in a more relaxing way with the front,” he said. “I will try to do my best to help the team to do so.
“But the reality is that if we don't improve that, it will be difficult to fight with others if I don't take these risks.”
Mir not willing to lower expectations
Mir has been among the most crash-prone riders on the grid since he joined Honda in 2023. While the RC213V was notoriously difficult to handle in his early season at the team, Honda has made tangible improvements since then, with Marini completing the majority of the 2025 season without major incidents.
Mir’s form has considerably improved since the second half of 2025, with the Spaniard guiding the factory to podiums at both Motegi and Sepang last year. However, this has not led to a notable reduction in crashes, particularly during the business part of race weekends.
However, Mir says he is unwilling to change his approach at Honda, having previously paid the price for lowering his expectations.
“I like to start the race knowing that I have a chance,” he said. “I spent the most difficult years in ‘23 and ‘24 here for this reason [thinking I didn’t have a chance], and I don't want to go to that [phase] again.”
“I'm one of the people here that I don't enjoy just for being part of it. I enjoy it when I have the option to fight for something big, and that is causing me a lot of crashes.
“Here in COTA, I had to do it. I have zero regrets about myself. I think the team is supporting me in that way.”
The Goiania qualifying was riddled with crashes, while several riders also went down during Friday practice at Austin. Mir kept it clean on both those occasions, but went on to crash later in races when points were at stake.
Mir insisted that this was no coincidence, explaining why he tends to fall more while running in a pack.
“The thing is that when I'm alone, I'm able to ride very fast and quite safely,” he said.
“But when I follow the others, to stop the bike behind the slipstream of the people with this aero, you have to risk to stop in the same way.
“If I have to recover, I have to double the risk, and that increases our chances of being on the ground.
“That's what is happening in the races. That's why I crash in races. That's the connection.”
