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Joan Mir is riding a wave right now in MotoGP, despite not having won his first Grand Prix yet, but a second place today has propelled him to the highest echelons of the world rankings which looks more open every weekend. After seven races, in fact, the leader of the classification, currently Andrea Dovizioso, has only 84 points.
Suzuki’s Spanish ace has scored 69 points in the last four races and is currently just 4 points behind Dovizioso in the standings. A situation that few believed possible in 2019 and that instead becomes more and more concrete in each race, making Mir one of the most dangerous drivers in the pursuit of the title, according to an opinion shared by many of his rivals on the track. . . His robust play at Quartararo was magnificent, it came at exactly the right time and very similar to the one he made against Rossi just seven days ago. to take third place on the podium.
In the various meetings with the media after the race, Mir is beaming, but does not skimp on Fabio Quartararo, who has suddenly become one of his opponents in the fight for the world title.
“I didn’t see the board in Austria at the first red flag in race 1 – Mir said – but only for one sector, because I saw it the next. There was a red flag there, so I didn’t see the message on the bike, I only saw the flags. Only something like that happened to me. You may not see the message in the first sector, but you should see it later. Usually you look at the board, it’s strange not to see that message. It never happened to me. “
Today he had another return to the podium, which is fast becoming his specialty …
“I am very happy, I gave 100% on each lap, I put everything on the table and it was not easy to start from 11th on the grid. Many drivers ahead of me seemed to want to win the race.” in the first laps it was risky. When I saw Pecco, Maverick, Pol and Fabio running away, I tried to concentrate as much as possible to recover. I started to feel good on the bike towards the middle of the race and was able to regain the gap with them lap after lap. In the final laps it was a lot of fun fighting with these guys, I’m happy for second place. I can’t wait to win a race, of course, but it’s important to keep scoring a lot of points and stay in this shape.
In 2019, did you think you could be where you are now in 2020?
“I never thought I’d find myself in this situation in 2020. After Austria, when I made my first podium and found myself being really fast, I had a confidence boost, because when you get on the podium for the first time, you think you can do it again. It is really difficult to maintain this consistency, but it is our first goal for all races. We are very consistent and my idea is that Suzuki is the most balanced bike that works on all tracks. The last three tracks felt good, I clicked my head after the first podium and this allowed me to start fighting for the podium everywhere. In the last races I have been on the podium three times, but on two different tracks. Let’s see how things are going in Barcelona, maybe I could get on the podium or even aim for victory there ”.
How much are you missing without having won a race yet?
“I still have no victories and this is my short-term goal. But in the meantime it is important to score a lot of points. In Austria I could have won, even here maybe I could do it with a good classification. Think that when I improve in the classification I will fight for the victory. Maybe already in Barcelona. The important thing is to get on the podium when you can, as well as get on the podium when it is within your reach. In my opinion, I couldn’t get the victory here. “
Do you feel like you are a true contender for the title?
“I think I’m fighting for the championship, even if I don’t think about it too much. There are still a lot of points to be awarded, but it’s true that halfway through the world championship I’m close, maybe I can. I even think the season is going to start here. Four of us We have almost the same points, let’s see if we can maintain this consistency until the last race ”.
You were behind the Yamaha of Quartararo and the KTM of Espargarò for several laps. Did you see what are the strengths and weaknesses of these two bikes?
“When I was behind Fabio, I saw that the Yamaha behaves quite similar to the Suzuki, under braking and especially when cornering. With the KTM it is difficult to make this comparison, because at that time Pol was in difficulty, his rear tire was very worn on the left side, so I could clearly see that he was driving in a stop & go style to keep up with us. “
You may not be the man from Saturday, but you are certainly the man from Sunday …
“Yes, maybe Sunday I feel stronger than everyone at the moment, but not for the whole weekend. Fabio and Maverick are better than me in qualifying.”
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