The 2020 world champion spent the entire last season begging Suzuki for a faster bike effort, a demand the new 2022 GSX-RR appears to have met.
“I am very happy because we have taken an important step forward in acceleration and top speed,” said Mir this Friday after finishing with the third fastest time of the day at the start of the season in Qatar.
Joan Mir was only beaten by his teammate, Alex Rins, who was fastest, and by Marc Márquez, leaving behind the Ducati, the biggest threat in terms of pure speed for the Suzuki.
“Surely it will be very difficult to overtake, we are not far in top speed, but then you have to see in the race what happens when you are behind a Ducati,” said Mir, who last year was overtaken by two Italian bikes in the last corner of the race here in Qatar.
“The step forward of the engine is very important because at least you can defend yourself, if there is a group fight I can maintain the position, facing the race it is a big step and also facing the classification, since we can accelerate well and we have top speed,” he stressed.
Although it is only a contact, Mir positively evaluated the work done on this first day of the Grand Prix.
“It is always important to look at where the rivals are, they are not far away for sure, and less than a lap away, but we have to be happy and satisfied with our work, I see the Hondas very strong, especially Marc, also Fabio and Morbidelli, there are people who are going very fast, we have to focus on our work and then we will see the race”, settled the Spaniard.
The action will continue on track tomorrow, with Joan Mir looking to improve on his third place finish on Friday’s aggregate at the Qatar Grand Prix at Losail.
