09/21/2021 |
Christina Bulpett |
MotoGP
Image: GeeBee Pictures
Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir highlighted the importance of the upcoming Misano Tests this week after finishing a frustrating Sam Marino GP in sixth place.
While the reigning world champion consistently enjoyed the climax of Sunday’s 27-lap fight on the Adria track against Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Ducati’s Jack Miller, the ultimate position was nothing special. And with the title challenge almost complete, he uses Misano testing and the final races of 2021 as an extended pre-season before a full attack in 2022.
“I’m disappointed, I expected a lot more,” said Mir after the race on Sunday. “At the beginning I couldn’t overtake the front, we made the wrong choice. It was like trying to survive. I tried to survive in this race and it was a lot different from what I expected – because I wanted to attack and somehow I was defending. Not good feelings, but I’ll try to improve anyway. We will try to improve the bike in the tests that are important to us and then try to give the final races a good potential. Try to be where I want to be because I am not in the position I want to be.
“It’s not that we made a mistake, we just couldn’t be as competitive as everyone expected, so I’m disappointed. I expected more. It’s hard to assume the championship is over. The day I can’t fight for a championship, I’ll retire, I won’t even wait a year. That’s why I’m here and this time it was such a difficult day for me.
“Of course it was a bit tricky, but we usually couldn’t take advantage of the hard front with our bike,” he explained when discussing the Michelin mid-range tire options. “And now we’re trying to change something to bring more forward, and I’m the one who’s starting to take on the hard now because I need something more. I can’t ride a bike with a medium. When we saw the temperature drop. We didn’t try, we’re a little new with this tire, we don’t have a lot of information and the team recommends using the medium because Alex felt great with the medium all weekend too. He didn’t bother, means he was fine, but no for me. Because my style is different from Alex’s and I demand a lot more up front. “
With Mir now 67 points behind Fabio Quartararo – and 19 behind the runner-up and double winner Pecco Bagnaia – and 100 remaining in the game, it is a great challenge for the Spaniard to defend his title. Does that change the way he attacks the last four races of 2021?
“No, there is always a risk,” replied Mir. I always risk what I have to risk, I always do maneuvers. It doesn’t change at all.
“The only thing that changes is that I can make some mistakes now if I have the chance to win. It changes. I can make some mistakes. So that’s important to me too. I’ll be able to do a few maneuvers, not on horseback, because that doesn’t mean that if you usually risk more, it’s because you are trying to push your limits, and it usually isn’t the way to go fast these days. When you go fast, you go fast because you know how to go fast, you know where to put the bike and everything. When braking you have to risk something, of course, but not more than normal, because then you drive far. But in the maneuvers, yes, something will change.
“During the weekend I was fully focused, not on the test and what we were going to do, because if you think you can have something, then you can think about it, but no, I was focused.
“I’m not sure what they’re bringing,” he said of this week’s official testing schedule. “I think we still have a lot to try, but I’m not sure what. We certainly have to develop the device a little further. There are some issues in some parts of the bike, such as the braking area, which I think we have room to improve and the two days of testing are so important to us in my opinion because Suzuki is not in a lot of tests tested with Sylvan. That means we have to test. Let’s see what they bring and if we are lucky and find something to be more competitive.
“I’m a little pissed off because I know my potential this year,” he admitted as he looked back on his season so far. “I’m angry because I drive better, make fewer mistakes, am a better driver and I won’t win the championship. So it’s a little hard to understand. But what also makes me happy is that Suzuki is going in the same direction, we all see what happens and I think they are pushing as hard as possible. I think.
“As a driver, I keep trying to push harder because it is, but now I can’t complain about the work they do because I think they do anything to do good things. That’s why I’m disappointed, because if we started differently in a different situation in the first race, we would definitely be in a different situation now. But this is a team, we learn from our mistakes and now I am sure that we are all going in the same direction. That’s what I make sure of a few months ago, and now I know they work hard.
“We can think that the next races will be like a preseason, each race an opportunity to give some information and try to improve the bike that I will certainly need. I think this is the smartest way. Now, if I have the opportunity to win a few races and do a maneuver at the end of the race, then of course I don’t care if I make a zero so it changes everything a bit. But I have to have a chance to win this race, if not in all honesty, I had fun today.
“In the last lap it looks like we were fighting for more than fourth place! I have fun with Marc and Jack – sorry again to Jack for the block pass. I think he’s always mad. But I think that was quite fair, everything. “