After the glory of a MotoGP world champion title in 2020, Joan Mir, a rider who took the lead over his teammate Álex Rins in Team Suzuki Ecstar, was unable to repeat his championship victory (nor the slightest in the race this season, in fact) but the Mallorcan fought to finish among the top three in the general classification and learned a few lessons along the way…
« The time has finally come to detach myself from the racing world and try to relax! It's something I find difficult to do because I'm the type of person who is always active and wants to do things. But this year, I learned the importance of balancing the stress of racing with the need to stay calm and take time for yourself.
In truth, these moments of relaxation will be part of my preparation for 2022 and they are just as important as indoor training. I'm going to take a few weeks to enjoy the things I'm lucky to have, and then I'll focus on jumping on a motorcycle! Until I can get my GSX-RR back, I will train with Supermoto and MX bikes, and even drive a kart, because all these things help me a lot to improve my technique and skills, I I learn something every time, and they also help keep my fitness at peak levels.
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« Overall, I feel like I learned a lot of useful things this year. For example, one essential thing was to fight. During this 2021 season, I fought very hard to try to get a good result at the end of the year. And along the way, I learned that you must always fight and never give up. Even in difficult years, I try to achieve good results and make the most of every situation. And even though this year wasn't great for us, I really enjoyed the comebacks, the good fights and the overtaking. And I'm happy to have finished 3rd in the drivers' championship against difficult opponents. »
« All this talk about on-track battles has me looking forward to riding the 2022 GSX-RR again. The Jerez test went well for us, and soon we'll be back on the bike at Sepang. My first impressions of the improvements were good, and it makes me want to fight again. »
« Mais, en plus d’apprécier mon temps passé sur la moto, il sera important de voir ce que l’équipe apporte et découvrir ce qui fonctionne et ce qui pourrait nous manquer encore. Jusqu’à ce que nous ayons terminé les essais, il est difficile de faire une évaluation précise de la moto. Il est important d’améliorer notre vitesse sans perdre la grande capacité à tourner de la GSX-RR. Améliorer l’adhérence est un autre domaine intéressant et important. Et le dispositif de hauteur de cadre, bien que déjà bon, a besoin d’être finement réglé. Au final, il n’y a pas une seule chose à changer ou à “réparer” sur notre moto, en MotoGP, vous devez constamment développer tous les domaines et aller de l’avant. Je suis convaincu que nous pouvons le faire. »
« There are other things to look forward to next year, like having more fans at the tracks. For me, 2020 was a perfect year in everything... Except not having the fans around. So now, seeing people come back, that’s what gives meaning to this whole racing world. It was so strange racing on circuits with empty grandstands and silence except for the sound of our motorcycles. »
« My list of New Year's resolutions would include several things, but the main one is to fight to win the title again. That will always be my ultimate goal, and it's something that won't change until I stop racing... and for sure I would love to get a title, wins and podiums, and share all these moments with the passionate and supportive fans. »
