Joan Mir was in contention for a top three finish in the COTA MotoGP sprint, before crashing out on the final lap after pushing too hard to catch Pedro Acosta.
Had Mir not pushed quite as hard and accepted fourth, then the factory Honda rider would have ultimately claimed third anyway as Acosta was later given a post-race penalty for a low tyre pressure.
But Mir was unaware that Acosta might receive a penalty, which is why he pushed to try catch the KTM star.
Mir also said that the crash of Marco Bezzecchi, who was running in second place at the time of his fall, sparked his late push.
“I’m very disappointed,” Mir told MotoGP.com. “I have no regrets because it was a day to take risks, especially when Marco [Bezzecchi] crashed.
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“I had the opportunity to finish on the podium. That changed the mentality a bit.
“I had to attack in that last lap to try and overtake Pedro [Acosta].
“I didn’t want to go to bed thinking that I didn’t try. That’s the reality. I made a mistake. It was my fault completely, this time.”
Joan Mir, 2026 US MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
On the other side of the Honda HRC garage, Luca Marini was one of the major beneficiaries of team-mate Mir and other riders that crashed at the front of the sprint.
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However, the Italian’s race was far from straight forward, as set-up changes prior to the sprint put him on the back foot.
Speaking after the 10-lap sprint, Marini said: “It was pretty chaotic! I didn’t feel so fast. Compared to Friday I was missing something.
“We changed the bike a bit in the morning and it was not great. It was not [the] correct [direction] so we went back for the sprint race but I was still not feeling 100%.
“I tried to make the best start possible because it’s important to be in front, but to stay with the top three we need to push a lot in [corner] entry, and every braking [zone] and I was struggling.
“I made some mistakes but I was lucky that some guys fell down and it helped achieve a fantastic result for us. We have to be happy for this sixth place.”
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