Joan Mir talks about getting back on bikes and racing again

Joan Mir interview

Posted by Eric Johnson

The Principality of Andorra, a micro-state with 77,006 inhabitants on the Iberian Peninsula in the Eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south, is a wonderful place and the place where we see a MotoGP racer currently in exile Joan tracked down me. I’m highly centered right now and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon during this fun coronavirus lockdown. Together with other world-class racing drivers like Fabio Quartararo, Pol Espargaro, Maverick Vinales and Team Suzuki Ecstar teammate Alex Rins, he solved the problem of laps on the humble Circuit Andorra de la Casa des Principality. It is located at an altitude of 2,500 meters on the Andorra Circuit, where Runs has returned to the shape of a Grand Prix race.

“I’m here in Andorra and I’m happy because we recently started using the bike,” said the lively, good-natured Spaniard who dominated the 2017 Moto3 World Championship. “We have a track that is 2,500 meters long and pretty narrow, and we’re starting to train a little with the supermoto bikes. However, today is a different story. Today was about waking up and going to the gym. Everything is a lot easier now, so we’ve been busy here. It was good. “

Joan Mir during the MotoGP test in Qatar in February 2020

Since February 24th and the official MotoGP test in Losail, no one on planet Earth has been on a MotoGP bike spinning laps in anger. After Mir did well during the three-day test, she finished in a respectable sixth place on combined times, one place ahead of Marc Marquez. Rins, be it a supermoto or a trials bike, saw the potential to get back on the grid in August at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.

“Yes, it was very important to know that a possible race date is coming up for motivation because if you train but don’t know why you are training, you are not training the same way as when you are motivated and pushing yourself. Now we have a date, August 9th, from what I’ve been told, and I think that’s really good news. I was a bit frustrated because everything was going so slowly here in Andorra. In Spain they opened the tracks and started opening everything much faster than here. I saw all these other riders who wanted to train here in Andorra and we all said as a group, “Well, what’s going on here? We can’t train. ‘It was very frustrating, but now it’s different and we’re training hard. “

MotoGP QatarTest Day MirJoan Mir during the MotoGP test in Qatar in February 2020

While out and about in Andorra and haunted the Andorra Pas de la Casa Circuit, Mir saw and hung out with more than a few of his racing mates with whom he toured the world.

“I’ve seen the boys a lot!” he exclaimed. “Today we trained with Maverick Vinales, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro and many other drivers. It’s nice to train together and see where our level is with the Supermoto bike and it was really nice. “

Andorra Training Day RinsAlex Rin’s training in Andorra

As with other professional racers around the world, Mir has been forced to find other ways to burn time off the clock when he’s not riding or exercising. Just don’t ask him to ride a stationary bike.

“I usually don’t like a static bike or an indoor bike because it’s really boring,” Rins mused. “But two weeks ago I was able to train with some of the top guys on a trials bike. I had a lot of fun because it was really technical, you know? It’s really important to have an opportunity like this to work on throttle and brake controls and so on. It was a good thing to start with a bike like this because if we start the MotoGP bike after two or three months of not doing anything, it could be dangerous, right? In this case it was very good. “

MotoGP QatarTest Day Joan MirJoan Mir during the MotoGP test in Qatar in February 2020

Mir, who finished 12th for Suzuki in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship and impressed the team all the way, was recently re-signed by the Japanese auto company to race for them during the 2022 racing season. I was told in the global media as he signed his new contract: “I am extremely excited to sign with Suzuki for another two years. Renewal is the best that can happen, and it’s a dream come true again. It’s really important for me to keep going because now I have more time to study and more time to show my potential. We have to work to get Suzuki to where it deserves, like Kevin Schwantz did. Suzuki has a lot of potential. “As he read this quote to Me, he nodded relentlessly.

Joan MirJoan Mir is registered with Suzuki until MotoGP 2022

“Yes, yes, yes,” he said. “We’re trying because Suzuki now has a really good package, because Alex is a top driver with experience. You know Alex will always be there and fight for the top 5 for sure. For me, I was a rookie last year. I’m putting a lot of pressure on now and I’m now starting to get into the top five. Now it looks like everything is going to get better. Now I’m no longer a rookie and I’ve started pushing a little more. When I push Alex, Alex pushes me and then we gain speed and level up and that’s something really important. “

MotoGP Sepang Test Day for Joan MirJoan Mir at the Sepang Test

The 2020 Team Suzuki Ecstar works well for its chassis. GSX-RR has become a weapon in the MotoGP Wars, a newer, more powerful engine that allows Me to take more point-and-shoot approaches on closer tropes.

“Yes, it’s a good bike and it’s constantly improving,” said Mir, referring to the bike’s improved grip and better tractability. “And that’s what I like very much about Suzuki. For example, in the pre-season tests, Honda, Yamaha, and Ducati brought the new 2020 motorcycles right away. Suzuki, they don’t usually bring the new bike with them. They bring in some new specs and are usually good, so it’s a big improvement and really important. The tests went very well. Our goal for the 2020 season is really good. Our package is really good. We’re really close to being at the level we want to be. “

MotoGP Suzuki GSX RR2020 Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP-Joan Mir

With Suzuki, who was highly motivated and fully committed to MotoGP in 2020 and far beyond, and owned a Grand Prix-winning motorcycle, Mir thought a little when asked to share his hopes and goals for the formulate whatever the 2020 race plan may be.

“If you were to ask me that question after the Qatar test, I would tell you that from the first race of the season I will be ready to fight for victory or the podium,” he said. “Now, after two or three months without a bike, I don’t know. I don’t know where we’ll be Usually I think we can get good and positive results. I think the podium is very close and we can fight to be on the podium. When you get to the podium, keep repeating. You know you can repeat this result. For example, the 2017 Moto3 season was my second year in the classification and I won a lot of races (10) and won the championship. It will be really, really difficult to do this in MotoGP, but I hope it will be something like that! If you look at the past, it usually takes all riders a year or a year and a half to understand these bikes. It looks easy, but it isn’t. You have to understand how to drive the Suzuki and that’s why I’m very happy with the potential we showed last year. It’s been a very, very good year for me, but we want us to hope so when we race again. . ”

MotoGP QatarTest Day MirJoan Mir during the MotoGP test in Qatar in February 2020