Joan Mir’s second season w🃏ith Repsol Honda is unlikely 𝓰to be much better than his first.

Last year, Mir publicly discussed a shock retirement just months after lea🌠ving Suzuki.

A crash-ridden 2023 has gꦛiven way to a new season and Mir’s bes♏t result, after four rounds, is P12 in Portimao.

♚It is a far cry from 2020 wꦿhen Mir became the MotoGP champion with Suzuki.

His fu𓃲ture - and a possible future outside of MotoGP - was debated at last weekend’s Jerez round.

“It’s a tough one,﷽” Sylvain Guintoli said on TNT S💜ports.

ಌ“You get to a point - just like Marc Marquez did at Honda - where you lose motivation.

“Is it better to go and do something else?

“It’s a tough one for Honda in that sit꧒uation. They’ve got to manage the performance side, make the bike better.

“They also have to manage♑ the riders, and their motivation. You have to keep your guys motivated.

“These guys are still the b♉est in the world - they could g🐼o into another series and get some wins, they could be tempted to do something else.

“Because it does get depressing. You’vꦇe got more than 20 races but, basically, you are just racing and testing all year.

“If your bike🌠 is not up to the task, it’s a tough one to keep the motivation.𝕴”

Neil Hodgﷺson replied: “He’s not🅷 old. I know Joan, he’s obsessive.

“If you are his manager, you’re trying to get him 💫on a Ducati or on a KTM𝔍.”

M🗹i𓆏r wouldn’t be the first rider to quit Honda in recent years.

“Look at the Marquez brothers,” Guintoli said.

“Happy faces. Everyone is laughing in the box.

“They a🤪re on ten-times less money but are having𒅌 fun, and are in the mix to win races.”

Mir finished P9 in last weekend’s sprint (largely due to the huge am𝕴ount of crashes in front of him) then P12 in the grand prix at Jerez.

Repsol Honda teammate Luca Marini is faring even worse in his first♏ rounds൩ on the bike, since joining from VR46.

Over🅺all, Honda are bleakly at the back of the MotoGP and are watching on as even Yamaha, their fellow Japanese-manufactured strugglers, are outperforming them.

Mir, still only 26, is into the final year of his Honda contract so could be targeted to g🥀o elsewhere.

But after two seasons of poor results, blighted by his below-par machinery, he may find himsel♋f with something to prove as new, hungry contenders jostle for the best seat on the 2025 grid.