Schwantz: “Mir may be feeling the pressure; you need to win a race”

Last year, the Mallorcan gave the Hamamatsu company the first crown in the heavy bike category since Kenny Roberts Júnior twenty years ago (2000).

Mir’s feat was considered unexpected at the time because the boy from Palma, in his second season in MotoGP , did not appear in any of the pools at the beginning of the course.

However, the lack of a clear dominator and the instability that settled in the championship opened the door for #36, thanks to its consistency, especially from the first quarter of the calendar, to win the jackpot.

At this point in last year’s film, after the first four races, Mir had only 11 points in his locker, he was lost in the catacombs of the table (14th), 48 points behind the leader, at that time Fabio Quartararo.

This time, Suzuki’s is placed fourth, with 49 points, only 17 less than Pecco Bagnaia, who commands the statistics. However, despite the fact that his numbers are unquestionably better and that automatically increases his chances of fighting for the World Cup, the feeling that Schwantz has is that Mir lacks a good result to take off the pressure that this probably meant. title.

“Surely this start is not what Joan expected. But if we take a look at how it was last season, we will realize that it did not shine too much until the middle of the course”, declared the ex-pilot in the podcast ‘ Tank Slappers ‘, from MotorsportNetwork .

“From the middle of the season, both he and Alex [Rins] pushed and the situation changed. Joan may be another one of those riders feeling the pressure; We all know the weight that those world champion titles place on our backs”, continued the North American, who had no problem admitting that that 1993 wound took its toll on him psychologically.

“For me it was very difficult, and I am convinced that this pressure is also affecting Mir. He will be thinking about the problems he has in qualifying, even though later, on Sundays, he can recover places”, ‘Pajarito’ extends, very clearly when asked what the current champion should do to show his rivals that is in a position to fight to revalidate the World Cup.

“What he has to do is get over that two or three position barrier ahead of him on Sundays and win a race or fight to win it.”