Joan Mir was able to remove the thorn from the first race of the season, in Qatar, when he reached the last corner of the last lap in second place, but the Ducati of Pecco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco passed him like a plane to knock him off the podium.
This time, the Suzuki man was able to defend himself until the end and secure the first place of the season, which lifts him to fifth place overall.
“I’m very happy, in Qatar we missed the podium in the first race, and in the second we had a lot of problems including a touch from Miller that prevented us from fighting. Here we have been able to have a very solid weekend, the bike was not one hundred percent, we had many problems ahead, but we have been able to manage it and it is important to know how to do it”, summed up the man from Mallorca .
The #36 did not end up happy with the performance of his bike this Sunday, but the management of the race led him to score very good points.
“In the end I have known how to survive with what I had, endure. I would have liked to overtake Pecco to finish second, but he defended very well. So it’s been a good weekend, we continue”.
There was a moment when Mir seemed to drop Bagnaia and was threatened by Franco Morbidelli, but he recovered and almost passed the Ducati.
“In the last two laps, Pecco dropped a bit and I had something else, but he closed the gaps very well for me and I was nervous because I knew Morbidelli was coming, but we saved him,” he explained.
Among other difficulties, Mir found when he arrived in Portugal that his technical boss, Frankie Carchedi , had to stay home after testing positive for COVID.
“This weekend I didn’t have my chief technician, who we’ve been working with remotely, and I had another technician, Tom O’Kane , from the test team, who has done very well. I think a podium is a great reward for both of us.”
As usual, Mir built his good race by gaining many positions at the start, starting ninth on the grid.
“We started very well, it’s not that I’m so fast at the start, but in the first few laps I’m looking for life to position myself. I have touched with Marc [Márquez], but it has been something slight. I think if Miller wasn’t penalized for what he did to me in Qatar, this was nonsense.”
Despite the general satisfaction for the podium, Mir did not want to finish without sending a warning to Suzuki.
“Starting so far back, the good thing is that we can recover in the first few laps, otherwise I don’t know what we would do. We have a good package, but we still have to improve it a lot”, settled.
The photos of the Portuguese GP 2021 of MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
