The coronavirus begins to give some truce in the
paddock
and in the
Aragon GP
comes the first face-to-face of
AS
with the current
MotoGP
champion
,
a
Joan Mir
who travels second in the general, 65 points behind Quartararo, and who he is aware that this year he has not yet had the great sparkles that he did last year.
An open grave review of his situation with the Suzuki and that of the championship.
—I'm going to tell you something, this interview was scheduled for Silverstone and it had to be postponed to Alcañiz, now giving me the feeling that he has lost media weight because today I see the World Cup finished by Quartararo, with you second, but without flashes of greatness as the ones you had last year. What do you think?
-I agree with you.
If you look at last year's race times and this one, I'm being faster on all the circuits, but the reality is that the bike is the same.
We have not evolved the bike at all.
This is conditioning me to have sparkles like last year.
It is not that last year I drove better but on the contrary.
"What is the flash from last year that you remember the most?"
—When I won in Valencia, to close the World Cup.
That was brutal, because I won at the time it had to be done.
"That served to cover mouths too, didn't it?"
-Yes.
—He silenced those who said he was going to win the World Cup without winning a single race. However, I am even more excited by Misano's comeback with Rossi last final to get on the podium.
-(Smile).
That pass was good.
It was good.
If it had been an overtake for a win, it would change the matter.
Enlarge
Face-to-face interview, not virtual, with Mir.
"What moment can you save from this year?" Which one stands out above the rest?
—This year has been a very neutral season in terms of results.
I have the speed to get to the podium, but it is clear that we need a little bit to try to win.
-Missing?
"More speed, more speed, a few tenths of a lap, a few details."
This year you have to go more to the limit to get better results.
- Why if the engines were frozen for this year, in Suzuki it has not been improved but others have?
—That's an answer that I don't know how to give you, because I don't know.
I think it was thought that practically everything was won last year and that this year the others could not improve so much.
That has started the year a little or quite in tow.
"This year you have to go more to the limit to get better results"
Joan Mir
"Have they slept in Japan?"
-No.
(Smile).
It is difficult to answer that question, but the reality is that we are not being as strong as last year.
—Complete this sentence: Last year I had the most complete bike on the grid and this year I have…
-I do not have it.
"Be more specific."
"Which is no longer the most complete on the grid."
The one that has evolved the least.
"Why is that?" It is clear that Suzuki cannot be asked to win the title every year because it is not the factory with the most resources, but have you missed a Davide Brivio in the box, a totem that squeezes the Japanese?
- (He makes a face of circumstances).
I can not answer.
"Will there be such a figure, a leader, next year?"
-I think so.
I would like.
The Japanese see that a
team manager
figure is needed
.
This is very clear and I also consider it.
"MotoGP has changed a lot in recent years and I am not a big fan of the media"
Joan Mir
- Speaking of something else, there are people who still ask me who was the champion last year ...
"Yeah, yeah."
It is
heavy.
"How do you explain something like that?"
—MotoGP has changed a lot in recent years.
Before there were four drivers who risked everything and there were two left at the end of the year.
Now and in recent years it is different.
Then there is that I am not a very media person.
In my free time I am not going to go to Juventus training to take pictures with family members.
So that you understand me a little.
I would like to be at home.
—At the Bernabéu we would open the doors for him with open arms, so that he could take pictures with the players of his Real Madrid.
- (laughs).
If I went to the Bernabéu one day, I would go to the stands as one more.
To watch the game and not see me much.
(More laughter)
"What is your goal for the remainder of the course?" I imagine that being 65 points away, with 150 at stake, he will no longer think about the title.
- I have not thought at any time about the World Cup.
It has always been the goal, but what I was thinking about was giving one hundred percent.
I am aware that doing these results regularly, with podiums but without important highlights, I cannot fight for the World Cup now.
"Is it a miracle to be second overall given your circumstances?"
"No, it's not a miracle because I don't see any pilot who is much stronger than me."
Simply, Fabio has found a more competitive package and you are being better.
"I have not thought at any time about the World Cup"
Joan Mir
"Will he be the just champion?"
"If he wins, of course he will, but there are still six races to go."
"You still don't call him champion?"
-No not at all.
There is one thing that is very difficult in this world, especially when you have not won a World Cup before, and that is to close a World Cup.
It has happened to me twice and it costs.
—Which one cost you to close more?
—The Moto3 one, because it was the first.
"Can inexperience still play against him?"
"Yes, but it has many points of advantage."
Now, when you start to make numbers, everything gets complicated and it is very difficult to close a World Cup.
Also, Fabio has all the weight of Yamaha on him.
"When you start to make numbers, everything gets complicated and it is very difficult to close a World Cup"
Joan Mir
- The worst of this championship are the Michelin tires?
- (He laughs and says nothing).
"Direct question ...
- The tires are being a very important point this year.
They are conditioning a lot.
Not only have I been conditioned by a race and many of my rivals are experiencing the same.
Fabio seems that this is respecting him more.
"Is it luck or what?"
"Yes, it's luck."
"What do you expect from Maverick with the Aprilia?" Imagine that it is he who shoots Quartararo in the race and that makes the World Cup open ...
"Ostras, this can happen ... Máverick is a very fast guy who works very well when he goes fast and without pressure."
This year at Yamaha he met a very strong Fabio and it is difficult to live with someone so strong in the box.
Somehow, it has been difficult for him to carry it.
He won the first race, in Qatar, and it looked like it could be very strong, but then it faded away.
I do not know why.
In Aprilia he will do well.
You arrive at a factory where everything you do will be well done.
That is a scenario in which he is going to be very comfortable.
Maverick is a good kid and he deserves this alternative and good luck.
- Who is betting on the Aleix-Maverick duel in Aprilia?
"Maverick, because he's so much more talented than Aleix."
Aleix is a hard-hitting survivor and will surely finish in front in many races, but in the long run Maverick has more potential.
- How are you seeing Márquez in the year of his return?
—I see that he has the same DNA as when he left and I see that he is a winner, although I also think that he hoped to find an easier scenario.
"What would you ask Marc if you had the option of interviewing him?"
- If MotoGP has changed in these two years.
"With what intention do you ask that question?"
"With good intention."
"I think Márquez hoped to find an easier scenario"
Joan Mir
- And what do you think of Rossi in the season of his farewell?
"Uncle is an example."
What he has decided to extend his career is up to him.
He has lengthened it until he could.
He is passionate about this, more than any of us here.
I don't see myself here at 42, like him.
It is difficult for me to see myself at 32, so imagine with 42 or 43. The fact of having lived as he has lived so intensely these years, having found a partner in recent years and now knowing that he is going to be a father ... This is very boss .
—The last… Will you ever be a MotoGP champion again?
"I'm 23 years old, what do you think?"
-I think so.
-I also.
—And it may be more than once, but the competition is growing, because look at how Jorge Martín has exploited ...
—I have found Jorge in all categories.
-Thank you and good luck.
-Thank you.