Joan Mir ‘comparing myself with the best rider in the world’

Despite being dogged by arm and eye injuries in recent seasons, Marquez’s statistics tower over the remainder of the premier-class grid.

Four current riders may have won the MotoGP title, but Marquez’s six world championships put him in a different league to the one each for Joan Mir, Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia.

Then there are race victories, with 59 for Marquez exceeding the total for all of his present MotoGP rivals combined.

• Marquez to Mir: 'If one Repsol Honda rider cannot win, the other must!'
• FIRST LOOK: Marquez, Mir present 2023 Repsol Honda livery
• Marini: The same bike, but different…

But it’s his record against the other Honda riders that is perhaps the most daunting for new team-mate Mir, with Marquez’s 59 wins since 2013 compared with just 9 for Dani Pedrosa and 3 for Cal Crutchlow.

Meanwhile, Marquez’s last three team-mates Jorge Lorenzo, Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro were left winless.

'I’m comparing myself with the best rider in the world'

“It’s a great honour for me. I’m nervous and very excited to wear these colours. I can’t wait to start the season and I’m thankful to be part of this team, with such a great history,” Mir, who won the 2020 MotoGP title for Suzuki, said at today’s Repsol Honda team launch.

“This is a fresh new change and being partnered with a rider like Marc is the best way to benchmark yourself. I’m comparing myself with the best rider in the world.

“When two riders are very competitive, each gives the other energy to compete more and more. Our comments and feedback were very similar in the tests so it looks like we are going in the same direction, which should make things easier for the engineers.

“I need to adapt to this bike, which has a different engine [configuration]. It’s totally different to the one I was riding before, so I need to adapt to this bike as well as testing different parts.

“So it’s not been an easy task. But we’ve already reached a competitive level and together with more feedback and the work of the team we can have great results.”

Mir was twelfth fastest at the recent Sepang test, two places behind Marquez.

The final pre-season outing takes place at Portimao on March 11-12.