Ex-World Champion Joan Mir admits that he had doubts as to whether he could physically endure the time at Honda – crew chief Santi Hernandez is very positively surprised by Mir
Joan Mir’s second MotoGP season with the Honda factory team is also more than difficult. One 13th and two twelfth places are his result after five race weekends. With ninth place in the Jerez sprint, Mir scored a point in Saturday’s race for the first time ever. He never scored in the sprint last year
Although Honda is testing new developments, no significant progress has been made. “I have no idea,” replies Mir when asked when things will move forward. “I say that and I’m completely honest. I had no idea how long my body would be able to take it.”
“I didn’t think I would make it this far, but I’m still here. I’m trying to do the best job I can and be as far forward as possible. I try to race well, but you can’t expect miracles.”
Last year, Mir recorded 24 crashes. Only his team-mate at the time, Marc Marquez, was on the ground more often. And that despite the fact that neither of them competed in every race. Mir currently has six crashes.
Will he turn his back on Honda after this year? Rumors link Mir with Trackhouse-Aprilia, where he would meet his former Suzuki team manager Davide Brivio. Mir has not yet decided on his future.
He would not be the first rider to break up with the Honda. Jorge Lorenzo, Pol Espargaro, Alex Marquez, Alex Rins and most recently Marc Marquez have thrown in the towel in exasperation and left the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer.
“The reality is,” says Mir, “that everyone who has left Honda in recent years has been worse than when they came to Honda. That is the reality. There are no exceptions. Nobody leaves Honda better than they came. “
“You have to deal with this situation as best you can. That is the problem. I am convinced that I have options,” says the former world champion about his future. “They are not the ones I would like, but we have options.”
“I am convinced that with a competitive bike, I would be right back at the front. I am relaxed. Last year, the situation was a bit too much for me and I didn’t perform at the level I could.”
“Now the bike is much worse than last year, but I’m riding faster. I am in a better moment. I feel good physically and I can see that I’m not the limitation. On the contrary, last year I hesitated and didn’t perform at the best level. “
Santi Hernandez positively surprised by me
There was a change in the Honda team over the winter. Mir has taken over the Marquez crew around Santi Hernandez, while his team has moved to the other side of the pits and is looking after Luca Marini.
“I have to say that I was positively surprised when working with Joan,” Hernandez is quoted as saying by Relevo. “Last year, I saw him on the other side of the box. I saw a very introverted boy, very serious, but not very communicative.”
“I don’t want to say he wasn’t with his team, but that was my impression from the outside. I saw him in the hospitality area. He said hello, but nothing more. I was then surprised to discover a very open guy who wants to do a lot. “
“Above all, I was surprised that he wanted to listen and try things that we told him, because we have the experience with Marc. He is very open-minded. Does it work or doesn’t it work? That’s another thing, but he’s open to try everything.”
When Mir joined Honda last year, Marquez was the team leader. After his departure to Gresini-Ducati, Mir is the veteran who now has more influence on the project and can help determine the direction.
“That gives you a bit more freedom,” says Hernandez, “as to which path you want to take. But I can’t compare it, because we do the same with him as we do with Marc. When we go out to eat, he’s always there.”
“We didn’t say to him that we always had dinner with Marc and now he has to do the same. No, that came from him. Of course, it could also be because he’s in a Spanish group now.”
“If someone is introverted, it might be more difficult to express themselves in another language. The fact that we speak in our mother tongue may have helped him. The important thing is that at the end of the year Joan says that the work with us was successful and that we did a good job. “