The headlines from the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix have all mostly focused on Marc Marquez’s incredible comeback to clinch a ninth world title (seventh in the premier class). However, there was another story of a return to the front that was slightly overshadowed by the Ducati celebrations.
For the first time in almost four years, Joan Mir stood on a MotoGP podium. The 2020 world champion last stood on the podium in November of 2021, at Portimao – some 1,422 days ago.
Since his last trip to the podium, the Spaniard had endured a torrid final year with Suzuki, before moving to ride a Honda that even Marc Marquez decided he could no longer tolerate. Moreover, since the 2021 Algarve Grand Prix, Mir had seen the top five on just five occasions (before the most recent Japanese Grand Prix), just one of those coming aboard a Honda.
It’s no secret that Mir’s struggles have largely been due to the bike underneath him, up until only recently. Unfortunately for Joan Mir, Suzuki’s departure and his subsequent move to Honda coincided with the HRC-run squad’s lowest period. Once a rider who won his MotoGP title based on consistency and the ability to finish races where rivals would falter, Mir has found himself as one of MotoGP’s most frequent crashers in recent seasons. These struggles culminated in a 21st and 20th place finish in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
However, 2025 has seen a definite upturn in form for the Honda team, with both he and teammate Luca Marini improving massively upon last season’s results. In fact, Honda has had a very strong season all round, with Johann Zarco taking a historic victory at home in Le Mans and a further podium at Silverstone.
Prior to the Japanese Grand Prix, we had been seeing flashes of the Mir we saw at Suzuki at points this season. Despite luck not being on the side of the former champion for most of 2025 so far, the stars seemed to align for Honda’s home race at Motegi.
Joan Mir showed good pace throughout the weekend’s practice sessions, before equalling a career best qualifying of second, seeing the front row for the first time since Portugal 2022.
The signs looked good heading into Saturday’s sprint race for both Honda and Mir – and for much of the sprint, it looked as if a top three was on the cards. Mir was able to keep Marc Marquez at bay for much of the race until a late block pass from the then soon-to-be-crowned 2025 world champion. Nonetheless, an eventual fourth place would be the best result for Mir in a sprint since their introduction in 2023.
If there were any doubts about the main race, Mir destroyed them all with his performance on Sunday. The Honda rider once again reminded everyone why he has won two Grand Prix world titles – putting in one of his best performances in the premier class to cross the line in third.
After years of struggling even to score points at times, Mir was finally able to deliver on the faith Honda have put in him and score a podium at their home Grand Prix. The former champion had the following to say about his race in Japan:
”Clearly, we arrive in a good moment, and I am really looking forward to getting back to work with the team. Japan showed us what we can do when we put all the pieces in place, and it proved what our hard work has done. The objective this weekend is clear: to repeat our performance in Japan and continue to challenge at the front.
Of course, Mandalika is a different kind of track to Motegi, but we need to be competitive everywhere we go. The atmosphere in Indonesia is always unbelievable, the passion for Honda and MotoGP is something really unique and it makes you proud to wear these colours.”
After sixty-seven races without a podium, Mir’s third place on Sunday brought an end to the second-longest ‘podium-less’ streak for a former MotoGP champion.
There was something quite symbolic about Mir taking his first Honda podium at the circuit where Marquez took his last, before deciding to leave HRC in favour of a place at Gresini Ducati. The events of the weekend come across as something of a full circle moment for not only Marc, but also for Honda.
