Joan Mir and frustration: "If we don't make a step, it will happen again"

Even if definitely with some difficulty, during my first weekends in MotoGP I slowly began to take part in some Media Scrums, the gatherings where riders give statements to journalists.

Among the ones that left the biggest mark on me, there’s certainly the one with Joan Mir in Brno. The Spanish rider, 2020 MotoGP World Champion, came into the press room after crashing yet again through no fault of his own. In Assen, he couldn’t do anything to avoid Fermín Aldeguer’s bike (he had fallen just in front of him), at the Sachsenring he was taken out by Ai Ogura, and in Brno he ended up on the ground after a contact with Álex Márquez. To those who joke on social media with things like "Joan Mir crashed, race validated" I’d like to ask them to put themselves in his shoes and try to feel what a rider feels: someone who always rides on the edge, does what he can with what he has, struggles to get much out of it, and on top of that, is often taken out by others. A frustration that’s as absurd as it is understandable, and it came through clearly in the post-race Media Scrum in Brno.

These were his first words: “I got off to a good start and was managing the situation. There was a bit of chaos, some overtaking, but I was right there. I mean, I had a good pace all weekend; it was the first time I could show something after the mistake I made yesterday (referring to a long run-off in the first lap of the Sprint Race). Someone tried to overtake me a couple of times, I got hit from behind a couple of times on track, and then in that chicane, Álex (Márquez) touched me and lost the front, or the other way around, I don’t know. And I ended up on the ground. That’s the reality, and I’ll stop here, because anything else I say will only make my situation worse.”

Right after, a journalist mentioned his reaction after the crash, since he had gotten up in complete disbelief before having a conversation with Álex Márquez. “I’m really in disbelief” - said the Mallorcan rider - “but I don’t believe in bad luck or good luck. I think we’re in a situation where we’re fighting against bikes that are 5 or 10 km/h faster than us on the straights, and in the end you always arrive at the braking zone at a disadvantage. I can make up for the lack of acceleration and power in braking, so probably what happens sometimes, like it used to with Suzuki, is that when you open the gas, they always see that we’re lacking a bit in traction and power, so they always catch up and then think they can outbrake you. I always brake hard, and if they’re being optimistic and release the brakes, something happens. That’s something that’s been happening in the last few races, it happened today, and if we don’t take a step forward and stay with the same bike, it’ll happen again in the future.”

When asked, “Do you know if there are any updates expected for the RC213V soon?”, Mir replied: “No, I don’t know. Tomorrow I’m going to Japan to train a bit. It’ll be important to talk to the Japanese staff there and try to understand when the updates will arrive.”

Before being riders, they’re human beings like the rest of us, doing a job full of sacrifices, with risk always around the corner. And when the results don’t come, the frustration is overwhelming. Hopefully, Joan Mir will soon be able to shake off this string of bad luck and get back to smiling, as he did in 2020 and on many other occasions.