MotoGP - Mir: "I'm still counting on Márquez for the fight at the end"

Once again, and it has become the predominant trend, the Suzukis failed in qualifying and both Álex Rins (15th) and Joan Mir (14th) will start far behind in this Sunday’s race at Le Mans.

“We were unlucky in Q1, I felt good right out of the box and I was fast in the wet, but the track dried up quickly and the rear soft tire got very hot and I couldn’t push hard in the last two laps. ”, explained Mir this Saturday.

“I think we are not so bad, tomorrow in total wet or completely dry we can have a good race”, added the Suzuki rider.

It is costing Mir a little more this year to come back as he did last year, in which he reached the podium from behind positions.

“This year I am being faster and better than last year, the problem is that these circuits are not the best for me or for the bike, that is why we are not seeing comebacks. If we can get through this circuit in the top five, I sign. Being able to make a podium here would be really special. I think I’m not very far away, anyone can win and I hope to be close to having those options”, argued the man from Palma.

“I am optimistic because I know my potential and that I can be there, but also that Le Mans is a difficult circuit for us”.

Defending the title, Mir faces the season thinking about the championship.

“I don’t want to allow myself to make silly mistakes this year, I want to do everything better than last year and that means getting a better result at Le Mans. I think I’m doing well, I’m giving the best of myself and the bike in every race, and I plan to be as far ahead as possible at the end of the year. But here it is time to suffer.”

In mixed conditions, the Le Mans race will be one of survival.

“Yes, here it has always been a survival race in recent years and that is what I hope for tomorrow, to be super focused, not make mistakes and score the maximum points. Here it is difficult for everyone, many teams are doing better than normal here and for us it is not like that, but we are better than other years on this circuit”.

Mir was one of those who said that Marc Márquez was going to be fast as soon as he returned, something that is costing him, although this Saturday he led a session that was perhaps not important as it was in the wet.

“All sessions matter. It seems that the Hondas are all better, he too, that’s how it is. These circumstances benefit Marc, I don’t know to what extent. In the dry it probably costs more. Here you can’t squeeze the front rubber and in the water it doesn’t crush you as much. Personally, I’m still counting on Marc for the fight at the end of the year and we know he’s doing well, I don’t think he’s doing it wrong, or that he’s afraid as Lorenzo says, “he said with a laugh.

A critical moment in this circuit is, at the start, the first braking.

“The first corner is a funnel, it is key for the race and you can lose a lot or win a lot, we have to be smart and move up positions, but calmly, we have seen a lot of crashes at that point and you can take a lot of people ahead. I don’t know what to expect from the first corner, I’m going to improvise as I go, but I hope to gain some places”, settled the Spaniard from Suzuki.