Joan Mir says he is “starting to feel” his Suzuki once again following a tough early part of the season where he has struggled to match team-mate Alex Rins.
The 2020 MotoGP world champion currently sits eighth in the riders standings having been the only rider –other than the injured Marc Marquez – to have not scored a single rostrum so far this season, Mir admitting he is struggling to find the sensations he needs to feel comfortable with his GSX-RR.
Having qualified a lowly 17th on Saturday at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya off the back of three DNF’s in the four events prior to the Catalan Grand Prix, Mir carved through the pack on Sunday to take an eventual finishing position of fourth as he “started to feel again my bike”, though added his “problems came again” as the race wore on.
“I’m feeling great, I hoped to make a good first lap and the bike was really good, I started to feel again my bike,” said Mir.
“Then lap by lap the feeling was getting worse and my problems came again, so the important thing was to finish the race.
“We at least managed to understand some more things this weekend, and we will try to improve further in the test tomorrow.
“I’ve been feeling confident (through recent rough patch of form), my mind never changed we just had some trouble with some things on our bike that is giving us some problems but we are always optimistic and work hard, we just need some more time to understand.”
The one-time premier class race winner was also sympathetic to the plight of Aleix Espargaro, the Aprilia man having rolled off a lap early after incorrectly interpreting the Spanish venue’s lap counter after missing his pit-board – a mistake that saw him drop from second to fifth just behind Mir.
The Suzuki ace defended his countryman’s error, stating that MotoGP’s best “are not robots”, adding that the “podium was for Aleix.”
“It was a difficult situation because he (Aleix Espargaro) deserved this podium more than anyone, but these things happen because we are not robots,” continued Mir.
“In my case I made the top five today, the points I got fourth but the podium was for Aleix.”
