The track turned out to be Mir’s worst venue in his title-winning 2020 season when he finished the first wet race of his MotoGP career in 11th place.
I finished training on Friday after a late fall in FP2 in 13th place overall and admits that he doesn’t know how much he can improve his situation in the future because he doesn’t feel “comfortable” on the Suzuki on the track.
“I did my best to make things work and this fall hurt me,” said Mir on Friday.
“I hope to have a dry session tomorrow, even if the feeling is not the best.
“The other bikes seem to be doing well here and we’re having problems, last year was the worst result on this track, I didn’t feel good today and I fell.
“I’m confident that I can change the situation, even though I don’t think I can win on Sunday. But when I’m focused and can fight with the top 5, I’m happy.
“Le Mans is difficult for our motorcycle, I liked it and had fun in the other categories, but now I don’t feel good.
“The team did a good job and I think I can improve tomorrow, but I don’t know how much.”
Alex Rins, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
I care about where the Suzuki is fighting for Le Mans and I say the front end is the main problem.
“If you don’t feel good about the front end, it’s because you don’t feel like the bike is ready to go faster,” he added.
“It gives you the feeling that the bike is slipping and that prevents you from turning the bike and stopping in the bends.
“This asphalt doesn’t use tires, so the most important thing here is to have confidence in the front wheel.”
Teammate Alex Rins was stronger than Mir at Le Mans in 2020 after working his way up to second place from a late fall.
Although Rins slipped from provisional Q2 spots on Friday after falling himself, he was much more positive about his day and has the best feeling he has ever had in MotoGP at Le Mans.
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When asked why he was feeling so well, Rins replied, “Sincerely, I don’t know.
“Right from the start, I walk out of the pits behind Maverick [Vinales] and I expected that I would try to follow him.
“But behind him I felt really good, I overtook him and then drove free. I don’t know why, but the feeling was nice today.
“Let’s see if we can have that feeling tomorrow. As for the race, I want the race to go from flag to flag. It’s been a long time without that kind of race. “