Joan Mir admitted that he will “go to bed satisfied” after securing his best finish in Honda colours since the 2023 MotoGP season.

The 2020 champion crossed the line in seventh place, finishing as the top Honda rider and delivering his best performance since finishing in fifth in India in 2023.

The Spaniard exclaimed his delight to secure a much-needed result, especially after he was taken out by Jack Miller in the Saturday Sprint race.

“To be honest, I never thought I would be satisfied with seventh place. But today that happened,” he exclaimed to SpeedWeek.

“In the end, it was a really good result. Because we got the most out of what was available. I can say the same about myself.

“I gave 100 per cent. That’s why I’ll go to bed tonight [Sunday] feeling very relaxed and satisfied.”

Joan Mir still sees Honda ‘weaknesses’ that need addressing

Mir admitted that Honda still has a long way to go in its development to catch up with its rivals, pinpointing a key area where the Japanese marque struggles.

“The journey to bring the bike back to the top isn’t over yet,” he said.

“There are areas, like cornering speed, where we’re certainly already fully competitive, but there are still weaknesses – we need to continue improving acceleration and top speed.”

During the race itself, Mir was involved in a battle with riders Fabio Di Giannantonio and Maverick Vinales, riders representing manufacturers that excel where Honda struggles most.

“We’re finally able to ride all the other bikes. I spent time today with Ducati, KTM, and also Yamaha.

“In the three-way battle with Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio] and [Maverick] Vinales, it became clear how far behind we still are in terms of acceleration and top speed.

“I’m relieved to be fighting for 7th place with the guys – but the real relief will come when I overtake and don’t get overtaken again on the next straight.”

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Despite matching his best result of the 2025 MotoGP season, Pedro Acosta insists that fourth place isn’t “good enough” given KTM’s current performance.

The Spaniard produced his best results of the season, finishing fifth in the Sprint before matching his best Sunday result of fourth in the main race.

Acosta duelled with factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia for the first half of the race, but dropped back and crossed the line four seconds behind the Italian.

Despite the encouraging signs that the 21-year-old has been demanding from the Austrian marque, Acosta admitted it was “painful” to see the gap between them and the leading Ducati trio.

“We managed a really good weekend, I’m happy with the weekend that we made because if you check more or less all the practices, I was in the top-five or six,” he said post-race to Crash.net.

“This is good, but not good enough. It was a good race, the pace was quite good: faster than the guys behind, slower than the guys in front.

“We finished four seconds behind Pecco [Bagnaia], seven behind Marc [Marquez]. It’s painful to see this number in the screen.”

Pedro Acosta’s hard tyre was ‘fantastic’ during the race

Acosta was the sole rider to race with the hard compound front tyre after he struggled with front locking in the Sprint race.

He admitted that the tyre change benefited him throughout the race, though he also revealed he was initially unsure if it was the right decision.

“I was having a lot of locks, problems, [in the Sprint] and, to be honest, I didn’t want this to happen again,” he stated.

“You need to understand that I’m a guy that maybe needs more the front tyre – maybe more Brad [Binder] style – to go faster.

“Yesterday, it [the medium-compound front tyre] was giving me a handicap.

“For this I go for the hard [compound front tyre]. It’s true that it was taking two laps to warm-up and feel quite okay, but the tyre after that was fantastic. I’m super-happy about my choice.

“I was quite nervous, to be honest, on the grid because I was the only one with the hard, but I said ‘Okay, we are lost already, we cannot be worse.’”

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A third-place finish for Francesco Bagnaia “felt like a victory” in Aragon after failing to secure any points from the last two MotoGP race weekends.

Following a difficult May where he only earned four points in the Silverstone Sprint race, he secured his first podium finish since the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.

Bagnaia’s struggling performances on the GP25 continued after securing 12th place in the Aragon Sprint, before revealing an overnight modification that made a significant difference.

“Regardless of the result, for me, the drive to the finish felt like a victory,” Bagnaia stated to SpeedWeek.

“Third place is fantastic for me and my team. You always come together through situations like this, and I’m happy that I was able to have more confidence today.

“One thing we changed was the braking system. The technicians modified the brake discs so that we could significantly reduce lockup under full deceleration, which increased confidence when cornering.

“We just changed the disc of the bike, and it’s something that we never did in the past, and it’s something that we were not thinking about because normally it’s always the same,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“It was a huge step and it helped me to be able to brake less and reduce the speed more.

“Until yesterday I was the one with more pressure on the brake and less deceleration, so it was a bit strange and this morning it was better already with changing just this.”

He added: “We just decided to upgrade the disc, to just move to a bigger one, and I feel a bit better.”

Bagnaia hoping Monday test will find ‘the complete solution’ to his problems

The Torinese rider now turns his attention to Monday’s MotoGP test, where he hopes to find “the complete solution” to his problems.

In particular, Bagnaia stated that the step forward came at a crucial time, just before the next round at Mugello — one of his strongest tracks.

“Then there’s the test on Monday. Here we can do more important preparatory work, push things forward, and further increase my confidence.

“What we saw today was an important step, but not yet the complete solution.

“I’m so happy – the next races are at Mugello. I’ve always been particularly competitive there, and I want to aim for another win here with the right feeling.

“That would be very important and a further boost for me and my team.”

READ MORE – Marc Marquez dominates in lights-to-flag Aragon MotoGP victory

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Marc Marquez revealed a “very good intensity” from lights to flag was the reason why he completed a perfect MotoGP weekend at Aragon.

Marquez topped every session of the weekend and became the first rider to achieve the feat for a decade, since himself at the 2015 German Grand Prix.

The eight-time World Champion revealed he needed complete focus and intensity in order to win Sunday’s main race ahead of brother Alex Marquez. 

“The weekend was a perfect weekend for us. We led all the sessions and were very focused. It was a perfect weekend,” Marquez told SpeedWeek.

“The team did an excellent job. I focused completely on training and showed very good intensity from the start, finishing almost a second faster than the second-placed rider.

“And then I tried to find the same speed with less risk. We’ve done it again after 2015, 10 years later. It’s nice to have another perfect weekend.”

Marquez admitted he “forgot about lap times” while he was riding around the circuit, which allowed him to control his lead at the front.

“I was very focused. The race was faster than I expected today. But I was still able to manage it well and control it until the end.

“I always tried to follow my gut feeling. I simply forgot about lap times and rode the way I felt.

“And then once I saw that we were in the 47 range. But at that moment, I didn’t feel any more than usual. So I stayed calm.

“And then the track got faster step by step because I was riding the same way. But it was also important not to overheat the rear tyre.”

Marquez was ‘thinking a little about Austin’

Marquez also revealed he had been concerned towards the end of the race about losing points in the title battle, citing his crash in Austin as an example. 

The Ducati rider has a lead of 32 points over brother Alex, but a couple of errors in COTA and Jerez have made the gap closer than it could have been.

Marquez suggested the way he kept focused throughout the Aragon race was to ride even faster.

“If I want to fight for this championship, I can’t lose stupid points like I did in Austin, for example,” Marquez admitted after the race.

“With 7, 6, and 5 laps to go, I was thinking a little about Austin.

“And then I said to myself: ‘How can we find a solution?’ The fastest lap. Because that way I’ll get back into the race better.”

READ MORE – Francesco Bagnaia: Aragon MotoGP podium result feels ‘like a victory’

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Ducati’s Marc Marquez led from lights-to-flag to seal a dominant weekend by taking the Aragon MotoGP victory. 

The eight-time World Champion capped off a perfect weekend, in which he topped every session, by winning his home race by over a second. 

Marquez made the best start from pole position and held onto the lead going down to the first corner ahead of brother Alex Marquez. 

Francesco Bagnaia also made a strong start and moved up into third as Franco Morbidelli was relegated down to seventh from the front row.

Bagnaia had the run on the younger Marquez brother down the final straight, but was unable to capitalise, which allowed Pedro Acosta the opportunity to pass the Italian down the straight. 

Acosta didn’t need a second invitation and made a move on the double World Champion, but Bagnaia was able to respond with the slipstream on the run to the penultimate corner. 

The pair continued to battle for third, with the positions changing over the course of the next few laps, which allowed the Marquez brothers to breakaway at the head of the field. 

Ducati’s Marquez continued to set the pace as he broke the race lap record of the Aragon circuit to extend his lead at the front to over a second. 

However, the younger Marquez appeared to struggle before the first half of the race had been completed, with Bagnaia, Acosta and Brad Binder all chasing after the Gresini man for second place.

As Bagnaia began closing in on Marquez, Binder crashed out of podium contention in fifth, leaving team-mate Acosta to take on the Ducatis for the final spot on the podium. 

Further down the order, the main battle on track was between Aldeguer and Morbidelli for fifth, with both riders trading positions throughout the final few laps.  

At the front, Marquez took the chequered flag to complete a sweep of the Aragon weekend. 

The younger Marquez crossed the line in second to record his fifth podium of the year. 

Bagnaia completed a strong race to round out the podium in third. 

Acosta finished the race as the top non-Ducati rider in fourth, while Morbidelli prevailed over Aldeguer in the battle for fifth.

Joan Mir took the flag in seventh, while Marco Bezzecchi fought through from 20th to eighth.

Fabio Di Giannantonio ended the race in ninth, while Raul Fernandez completed the top 10.

Alex Rins finished 11th ahead of Enea Bastianini in 12th as Augusto Fernandez completed his Yamaha wildcard duties in 13th. 

Pramac Yamaha duo Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira rounded out the points finishers in 14th and 15th respectively.

Somkiat Chantra finished 16th ahead of Lorenzo Savadori in 17th, while Maverick Vinales rejoined after a late crash to complete the finishers in 18th.

Fabio Quartararo joined compatriot Johann Zarco and Binder as the crashers from the race.

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Deniz Oncu stole victory from Diogo Moreira via a photo finish to take his first-ever Moto2 victory at Aragon. 

Oncu and Moreira were separated by just 0.003s across the line as the Turkish rider prevailed following an audacious move on the outside line, in what was the closest-ever finish to a Moto2 race.

Moreira got the best start to the race from pole position to lead into Turn 1 ahead of Oncu and Barry Baltus. 

The leading group ran close together throughout the opening stages as Oncu moved past Moreira, with Baltus following the Turkish rider through a few corners later.

Aron Canet made a strong start from the second row of the grid and pressured team-mate Baltus and Moreira, but both riders were able to keep ahead of the experienced Spaniard.

Dani Holgado looked to have made a fast start, but was overly ambitious going into Turn 12 and crashed into team-mate David Alonso, with both riders out of the race.

On the second lap of the race, Baltus assumed the lead of the race ahead of Oncu, as both riders attempted an early breakaway from Moreira and Canet.

Canet and Moreira were able to bridge the gap to the leading pair, and the Spanish rider made a move on Oncu for second place.

As the race reached half distance, Canet made a slight error which allowed Oncu and Moreira to close back in and regain their positions. 

Oncu and Baltus were the ones setting the pace at the front, with the Turkish rider taking the lead at the front and breaking the all-time lap record as he attempted to break from the Belgian.

Further down the field, championship leader Manuel Gonzalez made progress from 18th on the grid, making his way up into 8th and pressuring the riders ahead to make it into the top five. 

Gonzalez used his pace to move past Alonso Lopez to move into seventh as he attempted to make up the two-second gap to Filip Salac ahead. 

Out front, Moreira was the rider who had the pace in the closing stages and broke the lap record that Oncu had set just laps before. 

The Brazilian rider used his advantage to pass Baltus for second as the trio appeared to have sealed the podium positions ahead of the fading Canet.

The Spanish rider lost a further position as Silverstone winner Senna Agius found his way into fourth. 

Going onto the final tour of the circuit, Moreira set another fastest lap of the race as he attempted to steal victory away from Oncu. 

The Brazilian managed to find a way through on Oncu, but the battle would continue throughout the final lap.

Oncu set up the final run down the straight perfectly as he gained the slipstream from Moreira in front, and parked his KTM Ajo machine on the outside line on the run to the finish. 

A photo finish proved Oncu ran out as the victor, taking his first ever win in the Moto2 class 0.003s ahead of Moreira.

Baltus completed the podium in third, just under two seconds behind the leading pair. 

Agius took the flag in fourth after showcasing some late race pace ahead of Salac in fifth. 

Canet was forced to settle for sixth over the line, with the American Racing pair of Joe Roberts and Marcos Ramirez finishing seventh and eighth respectively.

Championship leader Gonzalez lost a few positions in the final laps and came home in ninth, while Lopez completed the top 10.

Izan Guevara finished the race in 11th ahead of Albert Arenas in 12th and last year’s race winner Jake Dixon in 13th.

Ivan Ortola crossed the line in 14th, while replacement rider Daniel Munoz completed the points finishers in 15th.

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David Munoz produced a final corner overtake to seal his maiden victory in the Moto3 championship at Aragon. 

Munoz duelled with rookie Maximo Quiles throughout the race, but prevailed on the run to the line as he ran out victorious by 0.050s. 

Polesitter Rueda got the best start off the line and was able to hold onto the lead going into the first corner ahead of Luca Lunetta and Quiles. 

Lunetta was surprised by an aggressive move from Quiles in Turn 3 as the rookie made his way into second.

The Italian then made an error a few corners later, which saw him drop to ninth as David Almansa inherited the final podium position.

David Munoz made his way past Almansa on the start of lap four, and signalled to the Leopard rider to follow as the front four attempted an early breakaway from the group behind. 

Almansa spent the next three laps behind Munoz but made a move on Lap 7, but an aggressive response from the IntactGP rider saw Almansa forced to sit up and lose a position to Lunetta.

The Italian had a fast pace and was able to get past Munoz and Quiles into second, with the Spanish riders battling for position behind. 

Quiles initially passed Munoz, but ran off track and relegated himself to seventh as the chasing group rejoined the battle for the victory. 

With six laps to go, the riders behind began to attack race leader Rueda, with Lunetta and Munoz both passing the KTM Ajo rider into the first corner. 

Almansa and Quiles also found their way past the championship leader, as it appeared the Spanish rider had used too much of his tyre at the front. 

Quiles carved his way through the four riders in front as he took the lead at Turn 1, but shortly relinquished the position to Almansa. 

Almansa had to correct an error, which allowed Munoz and Lunetta to pass him onto the podium as the trio continued to chase down Quiles at the front. 

With one lap to go, Munoz resumed the lead of the race momentarily, but Quiles responded into the first corner. 

Quiles ran onto the outside curb going into Turn 12 to give himself a better exit, but Munoz managed to use the slipstream to make sure the pair were level going into the final corner. 

It was Munoz who prevailed out of Turn 17 as he took the chequered flag to seal his debut Moto3 victory. 

Quiles was forced to settle for second over the line despite leading for the entire final lap, while Alvaro Carpe won the battle for the final podium position in third.

Almansa crossed the line in fourth ahead of Lunetta in fifth, with Angel Piqueras just 0.050s behind the pair in sixth.

Joel Kelso earned seventh while long-time race leader Rueda could only manage eighth over the line. 

Ryusei Yamanaka took the flag in ninth while Cormac Buchanan rounded out the top 10.

Taiyo Furusato had been running with the lead group but ran out of tyre and finished 11th ahead of Scott Ogden in 12th, with Valentin Perrone trailing just behind in 13th.

Ruche Moodley crossed the line in 14th, while Dennis Foggia earned the final point in 15th.

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Ducati’s Marc Marquez fought back to take a comprehensive seventh MotoGP Sprint victory of the season in Aragon.

The eight-time World Champion was demoted to fourth on the start, but was able to carve through the riders in front to win the Sprint by just over two seconds.

Alex Marquez got the jump off the line and took the lead going into the first corner ahead of Franco Morbidelli.

Polesitter Marquez made contact with Pedro Acosta off the line and was demoted to fourth, but was able to pass his fellow Spaniard to regain third immediately.

Former rivals Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer battled throughout the opening lap, with the KTM rider getting the better of the rookie to hold onto fourth place.

Just ahead of the pair, Marquez used his superior pace to overtake Morbidelli for second at Turn 1. 

The Italian rider lost touch with the Spanish rider and was being hunted down by Acosta for the final podium position. 

Acosta made a move at Turn 1 but ran wide, which allowed Morbidelli to ride around the outside and remain in third place. 

The Spanish rider then made an error, allowing Aldeguer to close back in as the pair reignited their duel from the opening lap. 

The rookie was able to use the better pace of his Gresini Ducati machine to take fourth place and charge after Morbidelli. 

At the front, the Marquez brothers commenced battle as Marc took the lead for the first time in the race, with the younger Marquez unable to respond in his usually strong Turn 5.

In the closing stages of the race, the closest battle on track was between Morbidelli and Aldeguer for the final podium position. 

The rookie was able to use his medium tyres to his advantage as he overtook the Italian for the final place on the Sprint podium.

Out front, Ducati’s Marquez crossed the line to take Sprint victory at his home race in Aragon by 2.080s.

Alex Marquez earned another important second-place finish, as team-mate Aldeguer completed the podium in third. 

Morbidelli was able to keep hold of fourth despite a late charge from Acosta, who finished fifth. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth over the line, with Maverick Vinales flourishing in the late stages in seventh.

Marco Bezzecchi charged through to eighth after starting 20th on the grid, while Brad Binder took the last point in ninth.

Raul Fernandez completed the top 10 ahead of Fabio Quartararo who crossed the line in 11th.

Francesco Bagnaia had a nightmare Sprint and could only manage 12th, as Jack Miller took 13th despite facing a long lap penalty for an incident with Joan Mir.

Alex Rins was 14th, with satellite Yamaha rider Miguel Oliveira just behind in 15th. 

Johann Zarco struggled in the Sprint race and finished 16th ahead of Enea Bastianini in 17th.

Lorenzo Savadori took 18th over the line as Somkiat Chantra completed the standings in 19th.

Augusto Fernandez retired due to a technical problem and joined Mir as the retirements from the MotoGP Sprint.

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Marc Marquez earned an incredible pole position at Aragon, one of his strongest circuits on the MotoGP calendar.

The Spaniard maintained strong dominance after leading all three practice sessions, later setting an all-time lap record of 1.45.704s.

He bettered his 2024 record-breaking qualifying lap by only 0.097s to seal his fifth pole position of the year.

Alex Marquez was previously on course to claim a surprise pole, but his older brother reminded everyone of his superiority on the Basque Country roads.

The Gresini rider finished only 0.260s behind on his second bike after a crash in the final practice session.

Franco Morbidelli secured third for VR46 Ducati, completing the front row and finishing only 0.020s behind his satellite Ducati rival.

Francesco Bagnaia qualified fourth and will be accompanied by the factory KTM duo of Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder.

Fermin Aldeguer sealed seventh place as he sandwiched himself between the factory KTM squad and Tech3 KTM rider Maverick Vinales.

Fabio Quartararo notched together a strong lap to secure ninth for Yamaha, qualifying ahead of the last placed Ducati qualifier Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Joan Mir and Johann Zarco qualified 11th and 12th place for Honda, respectively, after promising showings in practice.

Raul Fernandez missed out on the second phase by less than a tenth of a second after Di Giannantonio secured his place from his second-to-last run in Q1.

Yamaha riders Jack Miller and Alex Rins were separated by 0.027s and will start in 14th and 15th place, respectively.

Miguel Oliveira’s struggles continued as he qualified in 16th place but lapped over half a second behind his two stablemates.

Enea Bastianini endured a tough session compared to the other three riders in the KTM stable, qualifying down in 17th place.

Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez followed in 18th, but lapped only 0.001s behind the Austrian marque.

Lorenzo Savadori outqualified his team-mate Marco Bezzecchi for the first time after the Italian crashed out on his first run at Turn 3, which forced the Silverstone race winner to set only one lap.

LCR Honda Somkiat Chantra qualified in dead last and almost a full second down on the factory Aprilia racing duo.

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Marc Marquez has completed the clean sweep by topping all three MotoGP practice sessions in Aragon.

The Spaniard recorded the best time of 1.46.607s as he tested the best setup for the Sunday main race.

Marquez wasn’t as unbeatable in comparison to Friday’s practice sessions, but lapped 0.141s clear of second-placed finisher Pedro Acosta.

Franco Morbidelli finished as the next top Ducati, ahead of Maverick Vinales and Brad Binder to further show KTMs competitiveness.

VR46 Academy graduates Marco Bezzecchi and Francesco Bagnaia completed sixth and seventh, respectively, separated by only 0.005s.

Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins slotted their Yamaha to secure seventh and 11th place, with both Gresini riders Fermin Aldeguer and Alex Marquez sandwiched in between.

Joan Mir finished 12th despite a minor crash inside the first sector halfway through the session.

Jack Miller and Johann Zarco followed as Fabio Di Giannantonio finished down in a worrysome 15th place.

Raul and Augusto Fernandez closely followed in 16th and 17th, both lapping quicker than the struggling Miguel Oliveira and Enea Bastiainini.

As usual, the last two places were occupied by Somkiat Chantra and Lorenzo Savadori.

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