MotoGP, Joan Mir: “Honda isn’t as screwed as it seems”

Joan Mir, who finished 12th in the Sprint Race and fell today at lap 9, leaves Austin empty handed. But he also believes that the situation isn’t as bad as it seems. He didn’t talk about Rins’ win with Honda, preferring to focus on his weekend ... starting with the fall.

“Overtaking on this track is always a challenge if you don’t have a good top speed, because you’re always late and, in long braking, with the slipstream, you struggle more than the rider who precedes you,” he explained. “In my case, I was struggling to overtake Morbidelli.  In the first laps, when everyone has a good grip, it’s complicated to make the difference in acceleration outside the slow corners. That’s probably our weak point. I tried a different trajectory to attack him at the turn three, and I lost the front. It was my mistake.”

Despite this, the Spanish rider wanted to see the glass half full.

“The only positive thing about this race is that I had the best sensations so far on the Honda,”  he affirmed. “We’re heading in the right direction. Today, I enjoyed riding. Braking and cornering speed were better, but the impression is that we’re always late. I have better sensations on Sundays, but start from the bottom, and it’s difficult. However, I see potential. ”

All he has to do now is wait and see.

“Realistically, if I were able to overtake Franco, I could’ve tried to be in the top four. It looks like we're screwed, but maybe we’re closer to the best than what it seems.”