Joan Mir admits that the pressure is starting to feel as he nears the possibility of becoming MotoGP World Champion without winning a race.
With three rounds remaining, 75 points are still available.
Only 32 points separate the top six after a roller coaster season shortened by the corona virus and wide open due to the absence of six-time world champion Marc Marquez.
The Spaniard has not raced since he broke his arm at the Jerez season opener.
“Sure there is a feeling of a little more pressure as the championship is getting older, so each of us has the feeling that it is about to end,” said Suzuki rider Mir, who is 14 points ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
“I don’t care about the others, I just care about my feelings. I have a great feeling on the bike. “
He may not have been a race winner, but I am the picture of consistency in 2020 with three second places and three thirds from 11 races.
French star Quartararo has three wins in 2020, but the Yamaha satellite rider endured miserable races in a row in Aragon in October.
In races won by Alex Rins on a Suzuki and Quartararo’s Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli, he finished a low 18th and then an eighth place.
At the same time, Mir got some third places in a perfect summary of his year so far.
‘Everything can happen’
The European Grand Prix will take place this weekend on the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Valencia, which is only four kilometers long, and the Valencia GP seven days later.
The season ends with the Portuguese GP in Portimao on November 22nd.
“Anything can happen, 75 points in the game,” said Quartararo on Thursday.
“I think all the drivers who are here can easily win the championship, we have to stay focused. Race after race is the only way to fight for the title. “
Yamaha works rider Maverick Vinales, whose only victory was achieved in Emilia Romagna in 2020, is five points behind Quartararo.
In Aragon he finished fourth and seventh, losing ground to Mir, but getting closer to his French rival.
“The last two races were honestly not bad,” said Vinales, who started in Aragon without his teammate Valentino Rossi, who was spared by Covid-19.
“Now we have three races where we can have a lot of fun, it’s a track I love and Portimao is a track I like too.”
He added: “Our strategy is very clear: finish in front of these two guys (Mir and Quartararo). That will be the main strategy to fill the gap in the championship. “
This week I found support from Emilio Alzamora, who won the 125cc world title in 1999 without winning a race during the season.
“Sometimes you can’t win a Grand Prix because of the circumstances, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to win the championship,” he told motogp.com.
Meanwhile, Yamaha’s hopes of winning the designer and team honors suffered a blow on Thursday when they were punished for “failing to comply with the protocol required to make technical changes”.
The International Motorcycle Federation (FIM) announced that 50 constructors’ world championship points have been deducted from the Yamaha company.
The factory Monster Energy Yamaha team was deducted 20 World Championship team points and the Satellite Petronas Yamaha SRT team lost 37 points.
However, Yamaha ended Thursday with some welcome news after 41-year-old Rossi returned a negative test for Covid-19.
“Rossi will take the opportunity to fly to Valencia tonight,” Yamaha said in a statement.
“Tomorrow (Friday) he will do a second PCR test and if the result is negative again, he can reunite with the Yamaha MotoGP team and take part in the Gran Premio de Europa this weekend.”
Should Rossi test positive on Friday, however, substitute driver Garrett Gerloff will take his place.
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