Joan Mir was unable to do anything with his Suzuki against an imperial Pecco Bagnaia in this Algarve Grand Prix with his Ducati. The recently deposed World Champion had to resign himself to second place which gave him 20 precious points definitively ensuring him third position in the championship. One last step on the final podium that Johann Zarco was still eyeing...
At the finish of this second race of the year in Portimao, Johann zarco, titled as best independent driver and factory driver Ducati world champion, reported: “ Joan Mir showed that you don't become World Champion by chance. He was strong all weekend. With the 20 points he secured third place in the championship, so that little light went out for me. But I'm still fighting for the top 4 places ».
For his part, the official Suzuki was, on arrival judged to be red flagged after the collision between the drivers Lecuona and Oliveira, finally inhabited by the noble feeling of duty accomplished and a job well done. Despite having a deficit of 2.4s on the winner of the day whom he never really worried, he commented at the end of the debates: “ I'm so happy with this podium. But for me it's not about the result, it's about the whole weekend “, beamed Joan Mir. “ It was incredible. I immediately felt good this time, from the first moment in FP1 ».
Joan Mir: “ it was exactly what I needed«
The dethroned champion admits: “ everything seemed quite easy. I was able to do a lot of laps with my bike in good conditions. I also want to thank the team for the good bike, this time I was able to ride for pole and also fight for victory ». Joan Mir has followed : " it was exactly what I needed. But Pecco really rode very efficiently. I waited a long time to see if he was going to make a mistake, but he just didn't. I also want to congratulate him for this ».
He ends by looking eagerly at the next weekend of competition which is coming up in Valencia, the scene of consecration in 2020: “ I am very optimistic for Valencia. This is a track I'm normally strong on. With the current package, it looks better than mid-season ". Before concluding, he specifies: “ I would also like to mention that a police officer died in an incident on Saturday and a photographer, Lucio, was injured. I want to send him a lot of strength on this path and wish his family all the best ».
MotoGP Portimao-2 J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
