until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Reigning MotoGP champion Joan Mir feels he and Suzuki have had a “super clever” start to their title defense, despite having yet to mount a proper victory challenge in 2021.
Mir finished all four races of the campaign so far in the top seven – but none of them higher than third – and is yet to lead a single lap.
His consistency means he is just 17 points off championship leader Francesco Bagnaia, although he would’ve faced a deficit around double that had Fabio Quartararo been free of arm pump in Jerez.
But Mir was as many as 31 points off the lead after four races in 2020, and the tracks that comprised the backbone of his title are still to come on this year’s schedule.
As such, he was taken aback somewhat when asked by The Race if his start to 2021 had been somewhat below expectations, answering: “No, below? No.
“I think that we are doing a super clever start of the season. We are there, we are in a position that we want, we are one of the main contenders at the moment to fight for the championship. We are there.
“So, I’m exactly in the position that I wanted to be, I think. It’s true that it could be better, we could be a bit more competitive probably in Jerez, to fight for the podium, we were very close, in Qatar the same, but anyway we are strong.
“I’m happy about the start of the season that we did because I want to do a season from less to more, I want to start with calm and then to increase the speed and increase the intensity.”
Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins narrowly outscored the champion in the Qatar double-header, but then fell at Portimao and Jerez – meaning that instead of being right in the thick of the title battle he finds himself 43 points off.
“I think we are doing a good job, we have the pace, we are fast on track. But you know, still, two crashes. Same as last year. No more, we arrived at our limit [for the year].
“So, yeah, let’s give our 100 percent. Let’s continue with the same atmosphere. We are doing a good job in the bike and out the bike, so let’s continue like this.”
Rins’ two race crashes in 2020 were indeed damaging to his title prospects, but he was also left to rue a practice fall at Jerez that meant he’d missed a race and spent virtually the whole season nursing an injured right shoulder.
There was therefore concern when he had to exit the post-race test in Jerez after this year’s Spanish GP early due to a potential shoulder issue, which had been caused by a fall in FP4 of that race weekend.
“After Saturday’s crash in FP4, I think it was the first right[-side] crash since last year, since the problem, and I hit the bone a little. So Monday I finished the test in the midday, and I went direct to Dexeus [University Hospital].
“They found a bit of inflammation. So, they gave me some pills and a bit of relaxants.
“I had in mind to ride a little bit the small bike at home but was raining all day – so let’s see how I am in MotoGP, but apparently everything’s okay.
“This Monday I already started in the gym like always, with the same weight and everything, and I had no problems.”
