After Joan Mir missed the BritishGP 2019 as a rookie due to an injury and the 2020 event was canceled, Joan Mir finally got his first impression of the Silverstone track on MotoGP machines.
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It turned out to be a more difficult Friday than expected for the Suzuki rider as confidence in the front tires in FP1 limited his potential.
The world champion improved slightly in FP2, but P13 is far from the performance we saw in Austria.
I said: “I had some problems today. There was something wrong with the front tire in FP1. I lost a lot of confidence.”
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“It was much better in FP2, but I needed more laps. We have to adjust everything well.
“FP1 was a lost practice session, so we had to build up some speed from FP2. I wasn’t competitive today. The lap I drove was the pace I had. It’s clear.”
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The problems for Mir were not specific to one sector, but to the entire route, as electronic adjustments are pending.
Another concern I had was his racing pace – usually his forte, even if the performance of a lap is not what it should be.
“I have no problems in any sector. I have problems in every part of the track. We have to adjust the electronics on the bike,” added Mir.
“Then we have to work a lot more on the setting. The data and feedback we gave today will be really important.
“We saw that despite all the problems we had, I was 0.3 seconds behind Alex who was the last winner here. It’s only the first day here and there is a lot more room for improvement.
“But I don’t like being in this position on a Friday. 13th place isn’t the best result to end day one.
“We’ll try to improve, but not just on lap times.
“I’m more worried about the race pace that I don’t have. I wasn’t confident. But with every outcome I was faster, which means that I have a head start.”