MotoGP Joan Mir speaks emotionally: "It destroyed me mentally"

Joan Mir didn't only have good years in MotoGP ; he certainly won a world championship title in his second year at the highest level, but what followed was much more difficult. Having moved to Honda Repsol in 2023 following the end of the Suzuki program at the end of 2022, Mir suffered a lot, a lot alongside the still very fast Marc Marquez. In a documentary dedicated to the now nine-time world champion, he spoke about this period of cohabitation, which was a little strange for him.

Mir, who has won just one MotoGP race – the lowest total for a world champion since 1949 – spoke at length about 2023, when he was Marc Marquez's teammate. And that's when his problems really began. « For me, 2023 has been by far the most difficultReality hit me: so many crashes, I didn't feel good at all on the bike... It destroys you mentally. And in a way, it destroyed me mentally. The situation was very complicated, because Marc had been riding this bike for many yearsHe had won many world championships. He knew how the Honda worked perfectly. And seeing that he couldn't get results, or at least the ones we really wanted, was mentally very difficult for him. But it was also difficult for me, because we were both looking for the same thing. We couldn't compete with the others, and if we tried, we would fall, get injured... It was a vicious spiral: the harder you tried, the harder it got. » could we read on Motosan.

 

 

However, he claims not to have been bothered by the presence of Marc Marquez at his side. « He helped me a lotI learned a lot about how to ride this bike. Of course, whether Marc is here or not, it's the same: you always have to try to learn from the past. The pressure, whether he was a teammate or not, didn't change me much. » he added.

In 2024, Marquez took on the challenge of Gresini Racing, leaving Joan Mir at Honda with Luca Marini. But Mir still remembers Marquez's talent, even when he struggled to express himself at Honda. « He is a super talented driver who adapts to everything.. I think we all knew that if he changed bikes and went for the best one, he would definitely win. For me, it was not a surprise » he concluded.

Do you think Joan Mir can return to the top later in his career? Tell us in the comments!

 

 

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport