MotoGP Barcelona J3 Conference Joan Mir (Suzuki/2): The sensitivity of the front tire, etc. (Entirety)

Via the official website MotoGP.com, we attended the post-race MotoGP conference of the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona on Sunday, which brought together fabio quartararo , Joan Mir and Alex Rins.

As usual, we report here the entirety of the comments of Joan Mir, without the slightest formatting.

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This is your fourth podium in five races, and the third in a row. Tell us about your race and why the Suzukis come back so strongly at the end of the race?

Joan mir : " I'm super happy with today. We did a really good job all weekend just working for the race. We already knew that our strong point was not the timed lap but we gave our best during qualifying. Starting from eighth position is never easy. At the start of the race, I tried to move up a lot of positions without any particular problem, then I found myself behind Jack (Miller) and the leading group. They attacked a lot and they were very strong in the first part of the race. Then, around the middle of the race, I started to feel better and reduced the distance. Then, I felt very good and I saw that many riders were struggling with their rear tires: Us too, but not as much as them. Then I was close to catching Fabio, but he had done a very good job, pushing his bike and his tires to their maximum. Today he was clearly faster than us. I'm also particularly happy to see another Suzuki on the podium, and it's very special for Suzuki. I am happy for my team. »

Did the time you lost behind Jack Miller cause you to lose the race?

« Behind Jack Miller, it is always very difficult to overtake, and even more so at the start of the race. Of course, I lost a few seconds because of him, and that probably cost me the race, but there was nothing I could do. He was just doing his race and he was going very fast at the start of the race, then he suffered a lot with the rear tire. I was much more confident at the start of the race to save the tire a lot, and I already had that in mind. Then, when I saw that everyone was slowing down, I had a little something more than them, also because I wasn't as fast as them at the start. »

Do you think the championship will only be decided between you and Fabio Quartararo?

« I agree with Fabio that it is too early to say anything now. Of course, we are both more or less the two most consistent drivers on the grid and we are very close in the standings, but it is true that there are a lot of very fast drivers, so I think there is still has a large part of the championship ahead of us and a lot of points to distribute to a lot of drivers who are really very strong. »

Track temperatures were very low. When did you decide on your strategy regarding tire degradation?

« For me, it was a bit the same (as for Fabio). It was a bit difficult to understand because when you were following someone the front tire heated up a lot and you could steer better in the left turns. But when there was no one in front of you, the front tire started to cool down a bit, and I lost feedback and feeling, mainly on the left side. As Fabio said, we had a few good heats in turn #2, but regardless, it was the same for everyone. We already knew that here in particular the (rear) tire was deteriorating a lot. I was able to do a long run in FP4 with the same tire over the race distance, and I saw that at the end, I was roughly 41 then 42, and that I couldn't go any further. quickly. So I knew that everyone was going to suffer at the end of the race, so I more or less expected this kind of race today. »

Do you think it's normal that the tires decide the race at this point?

« For me, it's competition: It's impossible to have a tire that has the same performance from the first laps to the last laps. And even more in MotoGP! It is a fact that each of us knows this and tries to cope in the best way possible. Like Fabio said, every bike has positives and negatives, and we just try to do the best we can with the positives we have. In our case, it's that we are consistent, so let's try to improve this consistency and try to be 100% consistent. »

Ranking of the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona:

Photo credit and ranking: MotoGP.com