Joan Mir took his second MotoGP podium at Misano last Sunday. He passed Valentino Rossi in the final corners and then tried to catch Bagnaia at the finish line. Beating the Doctor in the final lap is a source of pride for any driver, and Suzuki’s Spaniard talked about it on his blog.
“In the end, it comes down to instinct; Your racing instinct takes over “ he wrote. “When I race my rivals are kind of ‘nameless’ and that’s not disrespect to them, but when I’m in the zone and focusing on the moment I prefer not to have their names on my mind. I don’t think I have to overtake this person, I have to overtake this person. I’m just trying to focus on achieving my goal and not on who my rivals are on the right track. Otherwise the thought here at Misano would be: “I’d better sit down because if something happens to Valentino Rossi, it’s a big deal.” But you can’t afford that kind of thought if you are a racing driver. My thinking process was just that I knew I was faster than him for the first two sections of the track and that is an advantage when it comes to fighting someone like Rossi on a track he knows so well! “
“At Turn 10, I knew I had to use the pace I was at, so I tried to prepare a pass – I took every risk he would give me and he did. He opened the line just a little, enough for me to try, so I released the brakes a little and went under him. But while I was doing it, I said in my head, “Please don’t close the line!” because we could both have landed on the ground! Then I knew I had to get the bike up quickly and keep it stable in the last sector and my efforts paid off because on my final lap I set my personal best in sector 4, even faster than the qualifying lap.
“When I got to Bagnaia in the last two corners, I noticed that he was slowing down, but it was already too late to try anything. If I had known, if I had noticed a little earlier, I would certainly have prepared to overtake, but at that point it was just too risky. T.The last lap was an exciting ride! It was such a thrill!