MotoGP: Joan Mir: “We have to improve qualifying and are working on it”
Joan Mir is the first Suzuki rider since Kenny Roberts Jr in 2000 to score three consecutive MotoGP podiums, can he win a race?
Joan Mir is having a blinder of a MotoGP season, crawling his way up the standings to be within 8 points of the title lead after 9 races, putting him in a championship hot seat with everyone’s eyes on the Spaniard. He has come from strength to strength and has shown he has the skill to cut through the pack and make his way to the front of the race at many different tracks, proving to be incredibly consistent.
However, he has a chink in his armour, qualifying, Mir does not perform in qualifying, often qualifying around P10 and having to work his way through the pack to get to the front which is not where he wants to be, at Catalunya, he lost a lot of time trying to get past Jack Miller, however, if he had started ahead of Miller, this would not have been a problem and he would have been able to catch Quartararo and potentially win the race.
Mir knows he has to improve and is aiming to do so at Le Mans, “We have to improve qualifying and are working on it, the race was tough for sure because we started in the third row and you have to take a lot of risks in the first lap, this is ok at the moment but there are times where riders could hit you like Dovizioso [hit by Zarco in the first lap].
I try to avoid this and overtake a lot of riders in the first 2 corners, I was then behind Miller who is very strong in the first few laps so I was behind him trying not to lose much time.”
Mir knew he was close to winning the race, taking 0.1 out of Fabio every corner who’s strategy for the race worked to perfection, “The race is only 24 laps and not 25, I was close to the victory but Fabio did a great job managing his tyre really well.”
The goal now will be to improve at Le Mans, Suzuki and Mir know what qualifying in P8 costed him at Catalunya and this will be their motivation to go for a top 5 start in France.
Featured image – www.motogp.com
