Reigning champion Joan Mir and six-time defending champion of the premier class, Marc Marquez, had rarely met on the track since Mir’s MotoGP debut in 2019.
However, when Marquez returned to the Portimao race on Sunday, the pair got a little too close to comfort each other.
The Repsol Honda rider, who was shadowing his Suzuki (up to the fastest lap time) during Qualifying 1, had shrugged my shoulders but didn’t take any prisoners when he urgently slipped through from ninth place on the first lap of the race.
The GSX-RR rider made his sixth run of the lap when he ambushed Marquez with a late lunge at Turn 11. A slight contact forced the Honda rider to lift his machine.
It was the kind of “out-of-my” move a fully fit Marquez would normally make, but on that occasion the # 93 admitted to being vulnerable to an arm injury after a nine month absence.
After so long on the sidelines, Marquez said he was rusty assessing his braking in the backpack – which resulted in the pair touching each other again a few turns later when Marquez stuck Mirs Suzuki’s rear wheel on the slow hairpin of Turn 3 .
On the subject of matching items
No doubt the heart rates spiked in the Honda box when Marquez was forced to raise his RCV again, but he was able to maintain control despite dropping a seat. I was undisturbed and kept third place.
“I wanted to overtake on the first lap and then he closed the line. It was too late for me [to back out of the pass] and we both touched, “confirmed Mir.
“Then I felt hit on the next lap, but I didn’t know it was Marc.”
We just had to wait a lap to see @JoanMirOfficial and @ marcmarquez93 compete against each other!
We can’t wait to read the next chapter between these two great champions! #PortugueseGP pic.twitter.com/W7eQQalrL2
– MotoGP (@MotoGP) April 18, 2021
On the subject of matching items
None of the drivers complained about the aggressive moves that Mir made as a result of another bad qualifying session.
“If you start in ninth place it means this,” said Mir. “If you want to fight for a championship we have to start in the front row or we have to be aggressive [like this]. I prefer to start in the front row. “
“The start was good, but not perfect,” he added. “We couldn’t overtake three rows like we see it on other motorcycles! If you see that I didn’t overtake at the start, it was in all corners.”
Despite being eliminated from the top 3 twice during the race, Mir ended up taking third place for his first podium of the season. After three laps he is 23 points behind Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in fifth place in the world championship.
“I think the tracks at the beginning of the season – Qatar here, then Jerez and Le Mans – are probably not the best for the Suzuki,” said Mir. “But we’ve been fighting for podium positions on both tracks so far.
“If we’re on the podium here, it should maybe be a little better in Jerez. I’ll try. I’m not thinking about the championship now. I just think about race after race and try to be relaxed and give 100%. Same mentality as always. “
Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins fell from second place late in the race.
Marquez, who scored his first MotoGP points since Valencia 2019 in seventh place, is 52 points away from Quartararo and has 16 laps to go.