Motogp Europe: first victory for Mir, closer title

Joan Mir, 23 years old from Palma de Mallorca, won the first race of his career in MotoGP in Valencia.

And he succeeded in the most important moment of the season.

The zero in the box of successes weighed on the Suzuki rider, very strongly wanted by team manager Davide Brivio in 2019, despite an opaque sixth place in Moto2.

Trust reciprocated with continuous growth.

The Majorcan has been able to make consistency the weapon to climb the rankings, finishing in the top three in six races.

Only success was missing.

He arrived "at the perfect moment", as Mir himself commented, to consolidate a record that, with two races to go, sees him at 162 points.

Leading by 37 on Fabio Quartararo (who crashed on the first lap and fourteenth at the finish) and on team mate Alex Rins, by 41 on Maverick Vinales, by 45 on Franco Morbidelli and Andrea Dovizioso.

Spanish hat-trick to Ricardo Tormo, where Rins and Pol Espargaro (KTM) got on the podium with Mir.

Suzuki had been missing such a double since 1982. This year there are five new MotoGP winners, confirming an uncertain and hard-fought world championship until the last corner.

Sunday's biggest regrets are those that will accompany Quartararo, in tears under his helmet after the arrival, aware that he has probably compromised his world chances with a trivial slip.

In 2021 the Yamaha factory awaits him, but the driver from Nice - who had started the season with two wins in a row - under pressure has shown psychological limits that an official team cannot stand.

Definitely a 'no' day for Valentino Rossi too.

Returning after two GPs missed due to the coronavirus, the Italian was forced to retire on the fifth lap, when the engine of his Yamaha suddenly "fell silent".

"I just needed to do the race, my 27 laps to understand how I am - he commented disconsolately - instead ...".

After complimenting Suzuki ("we have to take an example from them"), Rossi took a broadside to Yamaha, which will see him next year in the Malaysian Petronas satellite team: "It is clear that our engine department has problems . Generally if you are very fast you give up something from the point of view of reliability, or vice versa. Instead we have gaps on both fronts. "

But no rider of the Japanese brand was saved from a very black Sunday.

Morbidelli made the wrong choice of tires (hard / hard) and finished eleventh.

Vinales - penalized by starting from the pit lane for using the sixth engine this season - thirteenth.

In the lower categories, good victory for Marco Bezzecchi from Romagna in Moto2.

Enea Bastianini, fourth, took the lead in the world championship, with a lead of 6 points over the British Sam Lowes, who retired after a fall.

In Moto3 success for Spaniard Raul Fernandez (KTM).

All the riders involved in the race for the world championship are out: Celestino Vietti and John McPhee on the ground, as well as the Spaniard Albert Arenas, who however remained leader of the standings.