In just his fifth season in the World Championship, second in the premier class and at only 23 years of age, Joan Mir managed to become the 2020 MotoGP world champion riding a Suzuki , a milestone that had not occurred since 2000, when he achieved by Kenny Robert Jr. , and that only four drivers before had achieved it since the birth of the world championship in 1949: Barry Sheene (1976 and 77), Marco Lucchinelli (1981), Franco Uncini (1982) and the legendary Kevin Schwantz ( 1993).
The feat was tremendously capital, and more so with the circumstances surrounding that atypical championship hit by the pandemic. A year after the feat, Mir considers that the value that it really had was not given to all that and that his life has hardly changed since then.
“Life has not changed what could have changed me, because I have been lucky, or unlucky, that I was champion in the year of COVID and in the media it has not been as beast as in a normal year,” Mir explained in a Exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.
“This year we have been gradually recovering normality, but not completely. It is true that I have experienced an important rush of fame, not brutal, something that I appreciate in a certain way,” agrees the Balearic pilot.
Although he understands that he is a public figure, Mir guards his private life with zeal and his appearances on social networks are more linked to commercial agreements than to his desire to become a celebrity.
“I know that if I win again or continue for a few more years at the highest level, the recognition will increase, but more to the extent that there are more fans in the stands. Last year I was very sad to win the World Cup without people on the circuits. That is something that I also carry inside,” he admits.
A World Cup behind closed doors that subtracted shine and, surely, recognition. From the outside, the impression is that Mir was not treated as a MotoGP champion deserves by the championship itself, the rivals, the media, the fans…
“On everyone’s part, yes, but not on the part of the fans. It is something that will be valued over the years, but value has not been given to the fact that Suzuki won a World Championship after 20 years. Winning one is not valued, but if we fight to win the second title maybe if it will have a greater recognition”.
A second title with Suzuki that has eluded him in 2021 and that seen the season, in which he has not achieved any victory, will not be an easy task in the short term.
“I am 23 years old, every season I have improved and I have a long career ahead of me. I have not managed to be a champion in the final part of my sporting life, I arrived and boom! I mean there is room, but it is important that I see that Suzuki wants the same, if I believe that Suzuki wants the same as me and I believe it, I will continue here. If I ever stop feeling that, I will leave immediately. Because for me it is important that we both go in the same direction and that I believe in the project”, makes it clear that the one from Mallorca, who a year after making the decision continues to believe that “it was a wise decision” not to wear the number 1 on his motorcycle during the year of his reign.
Gallery: all Suzuki bikes and riders in MotoGP
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