Joan Mir will follow the same path Marc Marquez took in 2024 by leaving Honda to join Gresini for the 2027 MotoGP campaign. Yet the circumstances surrounding the two moves could hardly be more different, just as the motivations driving each rider were worlds apart.
The comparison is an obvious one. Marquez and Mir shared the factory Honda garage in 2023 before the former made the biggest gamble of his career, walking away from the final year of his contract with HRC - worth close to €20 million - to join the Faenza-based squad and ride a year-old Ducati rather than the latest-spec Desmosedici.
Marquez's decision, widely seen at the time as a leap into the unknown, was driven by something that went beyond technical considerations. It was almost philosophical. He wanted to find out whether his prolonged lack of results stemmed from Honda's shortcomings or whether he himself had lost the edge that had enabled him to dominate MotoGP almost from the moment he burst onto the scene in 2013, winning six titles in seven seasons.
Mir's situation is very different. The 2020 world champion has never publicly questioned his own ability. In fact, he would most likely have remained at Honda had the Japanese manufacturer not kept him in the dark over whether it intended to renew the contract that expires at the end of this season.
Every time Mir's management tried to arrange a meeting to discuss his future, Honda postponed the conversation, prompting the Spaniard to explore alternatives elsewhere.
"By the time we got to Jerez, I still hadn't heard anything from Honda's management about what they wanted to do with my future, and I simply didn't deserve to be treated like that. That's why I decided I didn't want to stay," Mir said during the Catalan Grand Prix, visibly disappointed by the way the situation had been handled.
The opportunity came from Gresini team owner Nadia Padovani, whose squad has built a remarkable reputation for revitalising riders' careers. Marquez and his brother Alex are the most recent examples, following in the footsteps of Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
The Italian outfit offers an environment that is both competitive and relatively sheltered from the spotlight, allowing riders to perform at their best. That is precisely what Mir has been unable to do at Honda, the championship's biggest manufacturer, which has been undergoing a lengthy rebuilding process.
Motorsport.com understands that Mir signed his contract with Gresini during the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, although, like the rest of the agreements for 2027, its official announcement had to wait until MotoGP's new Concorde Agreement had been signed.
Logic also suggests Mir will reunite with Frankie Carchedi, the race engineer with whom he won the 2020 world title at Suzuki. Coincidentally, Carchedi was also the engineer who oversaw Marquez's adaptation to Ducati in 2024. In fact, the British engineer may be the only real common denominator between the two stories.
The challenge awaiting Mir is enormous, but fundamentally different from the one Marquez faced. For a start, Marquez knew exactly which bike he wanted when he accepted Gresini's offer. Financially, too, the circumstances were unique: he effectively raced for free throughout 2024, earning money only through his personal sponsorship deals.
Before Mir's move to Gresini became official, Motorsport.com asked whether he would be willing to make the same kind of sacrifice as his former Honda team-mate.
"Right now, yes, I'd be prepared to race without a salary," Mir replied, offering further evidence that the nature of the two deals is remarkably similar from a financial standpoint.
Marquez raced the 2023-spec Ducati Desmosedici GP23, the machine on which Francesco Bagnaia secured the second of his back-to-back MotoGP titles after beating Jorge Martin, who rode identical equipment.
That GP23 was widely regarded as the benchmark of the modern MotoGP era, earning a reputation as the ‘perfect bike’ after delivering 13 victories, 30 podiums and 11 pole positions across 20 grands prix during 2023.
The certainty Marquez enjoyed stands in stark contrast to the uncertainty surrounding the all-new 2027 regulations, when every manufacturer will introduce a completely new 850cc prototype. No one yet knows which bike will emerge as the benchmark.
Marquez also had the advantage of sharing a garage with his younger brother Alex, already highly experienced on the Desmosedici, providing an invaluable reference point throughout the season.
Mir, by contrast, is unlikely to benefit from that kind of guidance - at least initially - from rookie Dani Holgado.
There is another important factor related to bike development. Although all six Ducati riders will race the same base specification, only four are expected to receive continuous upgrades throughout the season.
Marquez and Pedro Acosta will naturally be first in line, while Fermin Aldeguer at VR46 and Mir at Gresini are also expected to receive factory developments. Whether that allocation remains unchanged will likely depend on whether Nicolo Bulega is ultimately confirmed as Aldeguer's team-mate in Valentino Rossi's squad.
Bagnaia's recent contract extension through 2028, combined with Acosta's arrival at Ducati, highlights perhaps the biggest difference between Marquez's roadmap and Mir's.
Marquez joined Gresini in 2024 with one clear objective: convince Ducati that he deserved promotion to the factory team the following season - a goal he ultimately achieved.
Mir, on the other hand, already knows there will be no vacancy in the factory Ducati line-up until at least 2029.
