Mir – the brightest title hope?
• Suzuki man shows speed and consistency to secure third podium in four races
‘I would have told you that you are crazy’
Suzuki sensation Joan Mir played down his prospects of dethroning Marc Marquez as MotoGP World Champion after another fabulous fightback in Misano.
Eighth to third in Misano 1, Mir emerged from mid-pack again on Sunday to power through from a lowly 11th to second to seriously strengthen his bid to be Suzuki’s first premier class World Champion in 20 years.
The 23-year-old was written off as a no-hoper after he crashed in the season’s opening race in Jerez and was then wiped out by Iker Lecuona in round three at Brno.
But now Mir is rapidly emerging as MotoGP’s man of the moment and after taking just 11-points in the opening three rounds, he’s collected 69 in the last four.
He hasn’t finished lower than fourth in the last four races and in a run of impressive speed and consistency, he has taken 45 points out of faltering Frenchman Fabio Quartararo in that period.
But level-headed Mir is remaining firmly grounded and even though he’s moved to within four points of World Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso, he insists he’s not going to let talk of a title tilt distract him from the job in hand.
He said: “I feel that I’m fighting for the championship but honestly I’m not thinking too much about it. I’m just happy to be in a position to fight for it. I have been on the podium now in the last two races and if you had said something like this to me last year, I would have told you that you’re crazy. Last year, my first season, was very difficult with some big crashes and sometimes I couldn’t even see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Mir’s emergence typifies the unpredictable nature of the 2020 title chase. He has surged into contention despite having not yet claimed his maiden premier class victory.
He added: “I don’t have a victory yet and that is my main goal. But it’s important to keep scoring points. In the second race in Austria I had the possibility to win but the important point now is to keep finishing on the podium. If you do that you can have the chance to win.”
Improvements in time attack mode on soft tyres in qualifying is another key area to improve after he could only qualify on the fourth row for Sunday’s 27-lap battle.
“We are improving but the track in Misano has amazing grip, and with a new Michelin soft rear tyre, it just pushed the front a lot and it’s hard to stop the bike and not run wide,” he said.