He’s no longer a surprise. Joan Mir has undoubtedly made one of the revelations this season in Moto3. The Spaniard, who finished fourth in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, has drawn a lot of attention this season. He only got a taste of the championship last year when he stood up for Ono at Phillip Island In 2016 he was promoted to the Leopard team.
It quickly became clear that the Spaniard was in a hurry to impress and already finished fifth behind his teammate Locatelli in Rio Hondo. This was an indication of what he could do and in subsequent races, with the exception of Le Mans and an unfortunate retirement at the Sachsenring, he consistently ended up in the top ten.
The road to victory was shorter than expected … In Austria he took care of every detail and scored his first historic victory in the World Championship at the age of only 18 on the Red Bull Ring circuit. Joan Mir is from Parma de Mallorca, just like Jorge Lorenzo and we have no doubt that he wants to follow in his compatriot’s footsteps.
He played a leading role again on the last Misano weekend. He didn’t win this time, but that is almost irrelevant because the third step on the podium is further confirmation of the Spaniard’s competitiveness. He defeated Nicolò Bulegabefore I summarize the race in a few words: “It was one of my best races, a third place that almost tastes like a win”. A victory that Mir will undoubtedly follow in the next round of the championship, which will take place in front of a home crowd in Aragon in less than two weeks. The perfect opportunity to resume the battle for the Rookie of the Year title. Bulega is currently only seven points ahead.
In the meantime, the team has already secured its assets and The Spaniard will be in leopard colors again in 2017. With the switch from Locatelli to Moto2, the Spaniard becomes in every respect the new reference point with which he can strive for the title. If that’s not planned …