Mir misses out
But reigning champion shows intent despite being mugged for podium finish
Joan Mir suffered last-gasp heartache after missing the podium by inches at the start of his MotoGP title defence.
A rousing fightback from 10th to second was undone by a small final turn error that let Ducati duo Johann Zarco and Pecco Bagnaia blitz by his factory Suzuki just metres from the chequered flag. Mir was off the podium by less than 0.1s, but before the last 500 metres of the race, the Spaniard delivered a display befitting a World Champion after he’d struggled with braking confidence throughout the season opener.
Mir said: “You could see on my face in every session it was a difficult weekend but now the smile is back. I couldn’t stop the bike and that is normally my strong point. But it was a very positive race and I had the good feeling back in braking and turning. The ideal thing was not to try and overtake Zarco and try to defend third with a slipstream behind him but it is the first race and
I wanted to take a risk to be second. I knew I had two angry Ducatis behind and both rockets passed me. I was a bit frustrated and surprised because I expected one Ducati and not two but they are unbelievably fast on the straight. It is not just that because their riders do a great job managing all that power.”
Alex Rins blundered when he forgot to engage the launch control on his GSX-RR but powered through from ninth to fourth with five laps to
‘I knew I had two angry Ducatis behind me…’
go before he faded to sixth late on with front and rear grip issues. The 25-year-old said: “I pushed so hard mid-race that I destroyed both tyres. Before Joan passed me I knew it was going to be difficult.”