MotoGP: Joan Mir still not thinking about the championship
In the second race at Misano, Joan Mir closed a gap of 12 points to leader Dovizioso, now only 4 points from the title leader.
It is no lie to say that Joan Mir is having an incredible season and only gets better each race, finishing in P3 a week ago after qualifying in P8, to then qualify in P11 the week after and finish in P2. Mir’s pace on the Suzuki is electrifying and he has scored more points than any other rider in the last 4 races, scoring 69 points which is 45 more than Fabio Quartararo in these last 4 races.
Mir has shot up the title standings with his consistency and has emerged as a true title contender, the Suzuki is performing incredibly well with Quartararo saying it is “the perfect bike,” before Mir snapped back saying, “when did you ride my bike”, a little bit of humour but Mir also pointing out that the Suzuki has it’s problems.
Quartararo has a point though, the Suzuki is fast on the straights, it is good on the brakes and it corners like a dream, the Suzuki has always been noted for its incredible cornering, always having an advantage over other riders on the corners. Yet Mir still feels where he is at is not good enough and he can improve, his qualifying currently is what is letting him down, but he feels he knows where he can improve for Catalunya, “I expect to be faster in qualifying in Catalunya, the first 2 rows are the goal and then to fight for the victory.”
When asked about the championship fight, Mir does not feel he is ready to even think about it, never mind talk about it, despite being within 4 points of Dovizioso who leads the championship. His response to being asked about if he is thinking about the championship was: “Not yet because there are still many races, we are in the middle of the season so everything starts here. Us top 4 riders have a lead over the others now thanks to this race, so we have to look at this positively and fight with these riders for the championship points.”
Although he has mentioned the top 4, he is not discounting some other riders in the mix such as Francesco Bagnaia who is riding well but has no luck, “We have to think about Bagnaia, he is showing a lot of potential in the last few races.”
Despite his fantastic performances in Austria and Misano, Mir still feels he will improve at Catalunya, hoping for a victory on home soil, “On paper, I expect to race better at Catalunya than at Austria and Misano. This year is different though, you never know, in FP1 I will understand where I will fight on Sunday because this season is unpredictable.”
Featured image – www.motogp.com
