Cheste.- The Spaniard, who celebrated his first MotoGP title last year and returned the crown to the Hamamatsu brand 20 years after the last time ( Kenny Roberts , in 2000), started as one of the favorites with a view to this season. However, Mir lacked forcefulness to measure himself short with Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha and with the Ducati , the one from Palma especially conditioned by the lack of performance of the GSX-RR during qualifying, as he denounced on many occasions.
What happens is that, after more than two years of complaints about this lack, Suzuki technicians found last week the key to sharpen their prototype. In Portimao , Mir placed third on the grid, his best timed result since his time in Moto3 (2017), and this Saturday, in Valencia , he will put an end to 2021 by starting fourth.
The crux of the matter, as he commented, was to ensure that the sets of new tires that are placed to carry out a fast lap allow the Suzuki to reduce the time to a similar extent as the other prototypes, something that even San Marino did not know. it gave.
“In Misano we understood something that now helps us on Saturdays. Until then we had not managed to make the rubber work in qualifying. It’s not easy, it’s taken us two years”, Mir summed up, relieved by the step forward as well as a little frustrated, for having had to wait so long to achieve it.
“With the bike from these last two races I think I could have fought for the title. It’s a shame that the season is over, because now I enjoy it. At last I know that when I put on a new tire I am capable of lowering the time”, admits #36 .
The 2021 World Cup is already decided in favor of Quartararo and Mir has secured third place in the points table, given that his margin over fourth (Jack Miller) is 30 points, five more than the 25 that are put at stake this Sunday in Valencia.
Asked about the reasons that have led Suzuki to take so long to straighten out that lack of punch in qualifying, the Spaniard indirectly referred to the Japanese manufacturer’s philosophy of going step by step in the evolution of the motorcycle, without hurry but neither pause.
“There were other positive things that we didn’t want to make worse. Nor do I want to say that we have solved it, but it is clear that we have taken a step forward”, deepened the Balearic, who underlined the role of the second generation of the rear height device, in the improvement experienced: “Now we are at the same level than the rest”.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of Joan Mir at the 2021 MotoGP Valencia GP)
