Joan Mir is confident that the package his Suzuki team has provided for 2022 has “high” potential, though conceded that he needs “podiums and wins” to start his title tilt.
Suzuki were expected to be the dark horses for the 2022 term after managing to find significantly more power for its GSX-RR machine during the winter without seemingly affecting its historically-agile handling characteristics, the bike posting ultra-strong speed-trap figures at the almost Lusail International Circuit earlier this month though it ultimately struggled in race conditions en-route to sixth and seventh after both its riders lacked balance from their respective steeds.
The Japanese squad ran into further problems last weekend in the Indonesian Grand Prix after MotoGP tire supplier Michelin elected to bring harder-construction runner amid concerns its usual allocation would struggle to complete a race distance in the extreme heat of Indonesia, the GSX-RR not gelling with the one-off tire as well as hoped.
Mir in particular had a hard time in wheeling his machine towards the head of the times, the 2020 MotoGP world champion qualifying all the way down in 18th after lacking pace throughout practice.
Thanks to the tropical storm that coated the circuit in precipitation for Sunday’s race – facilitating a switch to wet-weather rubber – Mir came alive and managed to fire his way up to his eventual finishing position of sixth after only two tours, though he admitted he “Expected more” following his rapid start due to the “high” potential he knows his bike possesses.
“I’m really happy with the comeback, this was really good having started from 18th and then finishing in the front group, it wasn’t easy but I actually expected a little bit more when I got there (front group), explained Mir.
“I started to have some trouble with the front during the middle of the race, so we need to understand what why I struggled this weekend and why the direction we took was correct for the wet.
“Then in the last laps I was able to be strong and stop the bike better, so the lap times were coming and I was closing fast, but we’ve been really quick in the wet so this is important.
“I look at this race (in terms of points) as that we have 20 points total (riders standings) and we could have scored this with one podium, it’s not a lot and our championship hasn’t started yet.
“If we want to fight for the championship we need to fight for podiums and win races, and the reality is that we have struggled in the first two races but I know we have potential with this new bike.
“We need to work better with the tyres, electronics and everything to put everything together and help understand the real potential of this bike, which I know is quite high.”
Rins “satisfied” with top five run
Team-mate Alex Rins meanwhile was left satisfied with his solid run to fifth in the challenging conditions provided by the Indonesian climate, the three-time premier class race winner reckoning a lack of rear grip – plus a dose of caution following a pair of near low-sides – prevented him from making a push towards the rostrum positions.
“I’m very happy with my race because it’s never easy to finish the race in wet conditions, but I tried until the end,” said Rins.
“When (Johann) Zarco overtook me and Fabio (Quartararo) went past I was missing some rear grip when I picked up the bike, but I also had two big mistakes where I lost the front so I preferred to finish because if you look at the world championship (standings) we are only ten points or whatever from first, so we need to keep this up.
“In some moments during the race I was thinking of this, a top five was my target yesterday when someone interviewed me, so I’m satisfied.”