MotoGP’s new blood – Part 1
For the first time in MotoGP history 2020 saw five first-time winners: Binder, Mir, Morbidelli, Oliveira and Quartararo. So what’s the story behind these new stars?
The 2020 MotoGP season was the first to be staged in the middle of a pandemic. It was the first that didn’t feature the reigning champion since 1961 when John Surtees switched to Formula 1 cars. And it was the first in 72 years of GP racing where five new riders climbed to the top step of a MotoGP podium. Not only did Brad Binder, Joan Mir, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira and Fabio Quartararo win races, they won more than two thirds of the races.
No one expected Joan Mir to win the 2020 MotoGP title, except Joan Mir. What’s most impressive about the 23-year-old Spaniard is that he climbed motorcycle racing’s highest peak so quickly.
Mir rode his rookie Moto3 season in 2016, dominated the championship in 2017, moved up to Moto2 in 2018 and only graduated to MotoGP last year. That’s a remarkably rapid climb, bettered only by legends like Nicky Hayden, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer,
That means MotoGP is going through a seismic generational shift – out with the old and in with the new. Three-times runner-up Andrea Dovizioso and three-times race-winner Cal Crutchlow left at the end of the season and Andrea Iannone’s career has been terminated due to his use of banned steroids.
So who are the new kids on the top step? Where have they come from and what can we expect of them when the season kicks off again? This week we’ll meet Mir and Morbidelli and don’t miss next week for Binder, Oliveira and Quartararo. ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, Giacomo Agostini and Mike Hailwood.
The youngster’s talent was obvious when he won more than half the Moto3 races in 2017. No one else has got anywhere near his ten victories in a year – and winning that regularly in a class that’s chaotic at best, terrifying at worst, takes real talent, plus crafty strategy and naked aggression.
Mir brought that aggression to MotoGP, using Suzuki’s finehanding GSX-RR to force his way to the front, even though the inline-four is slower than the Ducati and Honda V4s. This year’s big step was developing race-pace strategies.
“Joan is an unbelievable talent – he is so fast and aggressive he could destroy a rear tyre in one lap if he wanted to,” says his British crew chief Frankie Carchedi. “What we worked on this year was managing races
– he’s still getting better and better at tyre durability.
“He only did one year in Moto2 and he was a MotoGP rookie last year, so he’s not got loads of experience and in some places he’s still learning. This year’s results are down to the whole package – the bike has come on a step but it’s him that’s made the biggest step.”
Mir won this year’s championship with superb consistency, when his rivals were up one weekend and down the next. His final push to the title was six podiums in seven races, culminating with his first MotoGP race win at Valencia in November. “I need to continue working on my riding technique to improve my feeling with the bike,” he says. “I have worked a lot on corner exits to be smoother with the throttle, because I didn’t used to be like this. Now I can ride smooth and then I can be aggressive when I need to be. “In the garage I’m a perfectionist. I want everything perfect, to have everything under control and I always want to understand everything about the bike.”
Mir and Suzuki had one big weak point in 2020. They couldn’t get maximum one-lap speed out of the GSX-RR to qualify at the front of the grid. Mir started ten of the 14 races from the third or fourth rows, because the bike understeers with brand-new tyres. If Suzuki can fix that problem Mir will surely win more than one race in 2021.
Turn to page 36 for a Best of British profile on Frankie Carchedi