All eyes were on Luca Marini in the Honda HRC Castrol team as illness forced Joan Mir out of the Sprint, Marini battling on to 15th and collecting important data for Sunday where he aims for more.
Another day of two halves at the Lusail International Circuit as qualifying took place during the day and the Sprint lighting up the night sky of Qatar. The Honda HRC Castrol team diligently went about their work in both conditions as the fourth round of the year continued.
Able to make further progress from his Friday base, Luca Marini set a best time of 1’51.728 in Q1 and ended the 15 minute session inside the top five. From 15th on the grid, the #10 immediately went for the inside line as the 11-lap Sprint got underway as he went about hunting early gains. Lapping steadily in mid 1’53s, Marini would bring his Honda RC213V home in 15th place after an intense last lap with Brad Binder. Although he and his team had hoped for more, they remain optimistic of making further gains on Sunday.
Joan Mir had a complicated Saturday in Qatar, the #36 suffering from gastroenteritis. After qualifying down in 21st, it was advised he sit out the Sprint Race in order to recover before Sunday’s Grand Prix. He will be reviewed again before Warm Up.
Honda HRC Castrol is aiming to have a full complement of riders back out on track for the 22-lap Qatar GP tomorrow, Sunday April 13, scheduled to start at 20:00 Local Time.
Luca Marini
15th
“Tomorrow morning we need to try some things to improve for Sunday, usually it’s where we are stronger at each of Grands Prix. There’s work to do to improve our situation. We knew here would be a weekend with more things to overcome, so it’s not completely surprising. The good thing about weekends like this is that you can really focus and work on these areas because I think our overall package is quite good and we can be up there fighting.”
