MotoGP world champion Joan Mir has insisted that he’s not the favourite for this year’s championship. Mir feels that he still has areas where he needs to improve his riding despite a strong 2020 in which the Suzuki rider took the title in only his second season in the premier class.
The 23-year-old admitted, talking to journalists from his home in Andorra, that he believes that it was his consistency and not his speed that helped him snatch the championship last year. With one win in 14 races in a crazy season that saw nine different winners, Mir’s main points haul came not from wins but podiums in half of the season’s races.
Mir took the title by winning only 49% of the available points, the second-lowest score ever in the premier class ahead of only Umberto Masetti, who won the 1952 championship with 43%. It’s a long way from the incredible 88% score tallied up by Marc Marquez in 2019, too – a stat made all the more important by the Repsol Honda rider’s absence through injury in 2020.
And that means that as far as Mir is concerned, he doesn’t quite line up on this year’s grid as the favourite despite his status as the reigning champion – and potentially even carrying the number one plate for the first time since Casey Stoner in 2012 (pictured below).
“It’s true that when Marc won the title he’s always been the favorite the next year,” Mir did concede. “Inside of me, I feel like I’m the man to beat, but I don’t know if I am the favourite.
“I have a little bit more to show before I can be the favourite. It’s true that last year we won the championship but we won it not through speed, but with cleverness and consistency.
“The favourite, if he comes back at 100%, is Marc. He has more experience than me, more titles, more speed, and he’s the man to beat.
“If you remove him, I don’t see a favourite. Probably in that case it’s me. But if Marc is on track, it will be him.”
That realistically will make Mir the reluctant favourite for 2021 whether he wants to be or not, however, with Marquez unlikely to be able to return to action for the start of the season.
The Honda rider is undergoing extensive treatment for the badly-broken upper arm he suffered at Jerez and subsequent botched recovery and attempted return to action. It is therefore unlikely we’ll see the eight-time world champion back in action before the summer at least.
It’s even more unrealistic to expect that Marquez will return to MotoGP and instantly be as competitive as before, too, after an extensive period away. He has not only not raced in MotoGP during that time but has been completely unable to train at all on any form of two wheels.
That leaves Mir with the responsibility of starting the year as the man to beat regardless of what he insists. However, while he might believe that he’s not the number one just yet, he’s also well aware of what he needs to work on to become the real deal in 2021.
“I think that the margin that I have to improve the speed probably isn’t the same as it is for others with more experience. On paper, we’ve got good tools to defend the title, but I don’t feel like I’ll be the favourite. Let’s see how it goes, and if I win this year I’ll definitely be the favourite next year!
“I’m looking forward to this year and to being able to show a little more that I can be a better rider. That’s my goal for the year, and if I can repeat the title I’ll be super happy because in the end that’s what everyone wants.
“Of course the goal for everyone is to be the champion, but inside of me my goal is to be a better rider. I want to make pole positions, to win more races. If I can do that, I’ve already got the consistency.”
There is perhaps another reason why Mir is downplaying his chances for 2021 though: to minimise the pressure that he finds himself under ahead of the start of the season. Showing last year that he was a master at controlling his stress levels even in the midst of all the extra worries of COVID testing, he admitted only after the year ended how tense it had been at times.
But with the experience now of having raced with it and fought for a championship once before, he’s open now in admitting that he believes that the pressure can help him more than it can act as a hindrance.
“I will have the pressure straight away this year. Last year, I felt the pressure but it didn’t affect me, at least not in a negative way.
“This is something that we need to keep for this year, but if we have the pressure from the first race it’ll be because we feel we are at 100% from the first race. The key of the season will be to take the pressure and use it in a positive way.”
While Mir might be lining up with a target in the shape of a number one on his GSX-RR in 2021 (he’ll announce on February 12 whether or not he’ll keep his usual 36), the humble champion says life hasn’t changed too much for him in the past few months – even if he does have to sign a few more autographs now and then.
“When I go to a restaurant, at least one or two people recognise me,” Mir said.
“Even in Andorra, where normally you can get left in peace, people ask for photos now.
“I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like in Mallorca, but I think my life at home will change completely.
“But the rest is still the same. I train the same, and when I ride three minutes on my motocross bike I still get arm pump like always!”
