Uphill start for the MotoGP champion, 10th in qualifying but confident for the race. And he issues a warning: “Be careful who wants to win at the first corner”
There is no particular satisfaction on Joan Mir’s face at the end of Saturday in Qatar. And with good reason: tenth best time in Q2, nine-tenths from the monstrous lap of Francesco Bagnaia. If we want, the ‘chronic’ problem of the Suzuki’s with regard to the flying lap, which on several occasions has caused both riders to start from far back positions, reappears. But the reigning MotoGP champion is more optimistic about the race: the situation will be very different and, despite Ducati’s speed, he doesn’t see it as impossible to catch up with the leaders to attempt an assault on the high areas. Also noteworthy is a fine and the first lap in Q1 cancelled for exiting with the pit lane closed.
JOAN MIR’S WORDS
“We have improved today, especially in terms of race pace,” said Joan Mir. But it does not hide a certain disappointment after this day. “I’m not happy with the qualifying, we still need a lot. I tried to give my best, I also tried to give something more, but the situation did not improve, in fact, maybe I was too aggressive.” In particular “We are not fast enough and I have some difficulties in braking, I have never been particularly fast in my laps. With the front tire, there is not a good feeling: we are unable to do two-time attacks with the same tire, which means that the bike is not in place. What’s wrong? We don’t know exactly.”
ABOUT THE RACE
Not exactly the beginning of dreams for the MotoGP world champion, but he says he is more optimistic about the race. “Of course these are not racing times,” he stressed. “It will be much longer, we are talking about 22 laps. Here the tires wear out a lot and there is little grip at the start due to the Moto2 track ahead of us. We will get right in the end, but it is a speech that applies to everyone. We will have to try to manage the situation as best we can.” Is it possible to fight for the podium? “If Ducati is bad and we are good,” he said with a smile. “But looking at their pace, they are not as competitive as on the flying lap. Of course on the straight, it will be difficult to keep up with him, with the Yamahas we can defend ourselves.”
It is also important to get off to a good start right away. “We will have to be careful, there are always those who want to win at the first corner,” he said. “We, on the other hand, will have to be calm and take care of managing the situation until the middle of the race. Then we’ll see if we have more to reach the podium.” Not two rosy days so far for the driver who has to defend the world crown in this new season. But Joan Mir tries not to be too pessimistic: very often we have seen how different the values are in the race compared to the timed sessions on Saturday.