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The British circuit of Silverstone is ready to welcome the riders after the summer break, but although the riders market for the 2023 season is substantially already concluded and the seats almost all assigned, there is still one ride in the balance, that of Joan Mir. With Suzuki quitting the championship next year, the Spanish rider who boasts a world title to his name has been forced to look around, but a contract has not officially arrived yet, even though for months now rumours have put him as being in negotiations for a seat at Honda.
At this point in the championship, how are relations with Suzuki management? Do you think that relations will gradually decrease, in the sense that support from the parent company will be reduced given the fact that they are leaving the championship at the end of the season?
"In a certain sense it will be like this - Joan said - I think that even many of the management itself have no answers to give us, but we have to somehow end the season in any case. As far as I'm concerned, my goal at the moment is to try to have fun at racing doing my job, I don't want to think too much about the implications of this situation ".
Will you have any new components here at Silverstone?
"I haven't had a chance to go to the garage yet, but I heard there should be some new things in terms of electronics perhaps."
Your manager has declared that there is only one option in your future, joining Honda next year, otherwise you will stay at home. Are you worried?
"I am not worried, but I am confident, even if the contract has not yet arrived. If someone wants me for next year, they know where to find me - jokes Joan - otherwise it will mean that I will stay at home".
Changing the subject, what do you think of the penalty inflicted on Fabio on the Assen circuit? It came hours after the race and many think it was too much.
"I totally agree, I don't understand why he received that penalty, initially I didn't see the accident and so I didn't pay too much attention to it, but then looking at it I couldn't believe it. Fabio simply tried to overtake, in doing so he lost the front and crashed. This sport is also made up of this, what's the difference with what Miller did with me in Portimao? These are things that often happen with bikes, so I don't agree with this decision. "
Does knowing that race management can make tough decisions like this affect you riders in some way?
"I think it affects us negatively, that’s clear, because after such a penalty a rider will try to avoid similar overtaking, but the reality is that this goes against the show. What fans like is precisely the fights between riders, overtaking".
Do you think that from now on situations like Fabio's will be the new yardstick?
"The logic would seem to indicate it, but it frankly worries me. When you overtake it is normal that you can make mistakes, in Fabio's case it wasn't even overtaking during the first lap, in that case everyone is close together and a penalty would have made sense for safety reasons. In the middle of the race I find such a measure excessive ".
Maybe it’s necessary for the riders to agree with the race management on what is legal and what is not, in order to avoid ambiguous decisions in the future.
"That wouldn't be easy, it's not my job but maybe it could be an idea in the future".
