That of the 2020 world champion is the first name that appears on the list of rumors to arrive next season in the Repsol Honda team garage, replacing Pol Espargaró, despite the fact that no one with the power to do so has confirmed such a possibility.
This Thursday, in the preview of the German Grand Prix, Joan Mir was asked if there was any news about his future.
“No, no. Everything about my future is as it was in the previous race and the other one,” he said.
There are not a few who think that the irregular start to the season for the Suzuki is penalizing the Mallorcan’s options.
“I think that decisions are not made for two or three races, the driver’s career is analyzed, that’s what I think. It is clear that getting good results in the last races always helps something, but what is most taken into account is the trajectory, more than if he has had problems in the last or the last two races”, he valued.
“Obviously having won a title is valued, but so are other things. You can’t always win or be continuously ahead, I think the character of the driver is valued, or at least I would value that if I were a team manager,” he added.
What remains of the pilot who was champion two seasons ago? They asked him.
“I am exactly the same rider as in 2020. But every year the bikes change and the championship is different. The rider is the same, but this year we have had to suffer in the first part of the season. If we solve the problem I am having In the last few races (with the front end), you ask me again and I’ll keep answering the same. I’m fighting, now I’m having to be in this situation, finishing fourth, fifth or sixth. But I know it’s not my position and I don’t think anyone thinks so”, he claimed.
Regarding what aspects or characteristics the teams can assess when choosing a pilot, Mir has his own formula.
“Each one has their idea of what they need, so I imagine that they have, within their opinion, classified each pilot as they consider them to be. Those who decide, value this and then analyze the characteristics of each pilot, what they hear in the box of their own riders, the characteristics of their bike and they make their own idea of which rider can work there. I think that decisions are made, more or less, like this, “he assured.
Which leads us to wonder if the Mallorcan is qualified to take any motorcycle on the grid.
“I know my virtues as a rider and the way I like to ride the bike, my first year at Suzuki was difficult because it didn’t suit my natural style, but then it went very well for me, I adapted to the bike and the things have gone well. That taught me that, even if the bike doesn’t suit your style, you can make it work. I think that with a good job we can be fast with other bikes”.
Right now, in addition to the Honda, there would be the possibility of riding an Aprilia or a Ducati in 2023, and they gave him the choice, for style, which would be better for him.
“I don’t know which bike suits my natural style better, but for my style the Honda… no, the Honda, no. The Yamaha or the Suzuki have never been my style, when I got to MotoGP I thought it wouldn’t work with that style of motorcycle, but it has gone well”, he left the doubt in the air.
Maybe the Honda is better…
“With a V4 engine? I don’t know, I don’t know… we’ll see.”
More than six weeks have passed since the bomb dropped by Suzuki announcing his fright at the end of the course, a situation that remains undigested in the paddock.
“It is a difficult situation, I have said it from the first moment, but it continues to be and will be until the last race, the uncertainty of many people who do not know where it will go continues, I do not know if anyone knows. We have not received no explanation from Suzuki, only the statement that everyone could read, I’m still waiting for an explanation,” lamented Mir, who sees himself in the position of being out of work in 2023 because of that unexpected maneuver.Â
