Joan Mir Explained

Joan Mir
Nationality:Spanish
Birth Date:1 September 1997
Birth Place:Palma, Spain
Current Team:Repsol Honda Team
Bike Number:36
Motogp Active Years:
Motogp Manufacturers:Suzuki (–)
Honda (–)
Motogp Championships:1
Motogp Race Starts:87
Motogp Race Wins:1
Motogp Podiums:13
Motogp Poles:0
Motogp Fastest Laps:1
Motogp Total Points:597
Motogp Last Season:2023
Motogp Last Position:22nd (26 pts)
Moto2 Manufacturers:Kalex
Moto2 Championships:0
Moto2 Race Starts:18
Moto2 Race Wins:0
Moto2 Podiums:4
Moto2 Poles:0
Moto2 Fastest Laps:1
Moto2 Total Points:155
Moto2 Last Season:2018
Moto2 Last Position:6th (155 pts)
Moto3 Active Years:
Moto3 Manufacturers:Honda
KTM
Moto3 Championships:1
Moto3 Race Starts:37
Moto3 Race Wins:11
Moto3 Podiums:16
Moto3 Poles:2
Moto3 Fastest Laps:5
Moto3 Total Points:485
Moto3 Last Season:2017
Moto3 Last Position:1st (341 pts)

Joan Mir Mayrata (in Catalan; Valencian ʒu'an mir məj'ratə/, born 1 September 1997) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer riding for the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP World Championship. Mir is best known for winning the 2020 MotoGP World Championship with Suzuki.[1] He is the fourth Spanish rider to win the premier class title after Àlex Crivillé, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez, and the second Mallorcan after Lorenzo. Mir also won the 2017 Moto3 World Championship title with Leopard Racing.[2]

He became the first Suzuki rider to win the title since Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000, the first non-Honda or non-Yamaha rider to win the title since Ducati rider Casey Stoner in 2007, as well as the first Moto3 world champion to win the premier class title.

Career

Early career

Palma-born Mir competed for two seasons in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2013 and 2014, finishing with three wins and six podiums as runner-up to Jorge Martín in 2014. Mir contested the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2015. Mir won four of the first six races, but faded towards the end of the season, and ultimately finished fourth in the championship.

Moto3 World Championship

Mir made his Grand Prix début in 2015 with Leopard Racing at Phillip Island replacing the injured Hiroki Ono. Mir started 18th on the grid but failed to finish the race after an incident with John McPhee.

In 2016 Mir competed full-time in the Moto3 World Championship with Leopard Racing, partnering Fabio Quartararo and Andrea Locatelli. He achieved his first Grand Prix pole position and victory in just his 11th start at the Austrian round. He achieved a further two podiums in San Marino and Valencia. Mir finished the championship in 5th position as rookie of the year, scoring 144 points.

He remained for a second season in 2017 with Leopard Racing and dominated the class, taking 10 wins and 13 podiums from 18 races, only failing to score points at the Japanese round. His only pole position start of the season came at the Malaysian round. He finished 93 points ahead of his nearest rival, Romano Fenati, to win the Moto3 championship.

Moto2 World Championship

In 2018, Mir moved up to Moto2 with Marc VDS Racing Team, after signing a three-year deal with the team.[3] He finished 3rd in France and Italy, and finished 2nd in Germany and Australia, ending the season with four podiums and 155 points, 6th place in the rider's championship, and winning rookie of the year.[4]

MotoGP World Championship

Team Suzuki Ecstar (2019–2022)

2019

In mid 2018, it was announced that Mir would end his contract with Marc VDS two years prematurely, in order to move up to the premier class with the Suzuki factory team on a two-year deal to replace the outgoing Andrea Iannone.[5] He became just the second rider to be promoted to MotoGP after a lone season in Moto2, after Maverick Viñales. In his rookie season in 2019, he achieved consistent top-10 finishes but missed two rounds due to a pulmonary contusion suffered in a crash in testing at Brno. He was replaced by Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli.[6] Mir achieved a season-best finish of 5th place in Australia. He finished the season with 92 points, 12th in the overall standings, and as the second best rookie, behind former Moto3 Leopard Racing teammate Fabio Quartararo.

2020

Before the delayed start to the 2020 season, Suzuki announced that Mir had been signed for a further two years, ensuring his future with the team through at least 2022.[7] Mir had a rough start to the season, crashing out of two of the first three rounds. However, he quickly found his rhythm and became a consistent podium finisher, achieving a podium spot in five of the next seven rounds (three 2nd places in Austria, Emilia-Romagna and Catalunya, and two 3rd-place finishes in San Marino and Aragon). Inconsistent finishes from his title rivals such as 3-time race winner Quartararo and Maverick Viñales meant that after 10 of 14 rounds, Mir led the championship standings despite not having won a race until that point.[8]

During the tenth round of the 2020 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, at the 2020 French motorcycle Grand Prix, Mir lost his balance on entering a left turn during a practice session and slid on his side for about 50 metres before managing to use the momentum as he entered the gravel pit to seamlessly regain his footing and fluidly transfer his momentum into a running action. In the race that followed, Mir finished 11th, scoring 5 points.

A further podium finish in Teruel and poor results from Quartararo, Viñales and Andrea Dovizioso saw Mir extend his championship advantage to 14 points over second-place Quartararo with three races remaining.[9] At the European Grand Prix, staged at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Mir took his maiden win, beating his teammate Álex Rins, who finished in second place. With Quartararo falling early in the race and only able to salvage 2 points, Mir took a commanding 37-point lead over both his rivals with only 2 rounds remaining.[10] [11] The following week at the Valencian Community Grand Prix at the same circuit, Mir finished in 7th place, while Rins managed only 4th and Quartararo crashed out, crowning Mir the 2020 MotoGP riders' champion.[12]

2021

Mir started the 2021 season with back to back top ten performances in Qatar. Despite qualifying tenth during the first race and forgetting to engage his Suzuki's launch control at the start he managed to work his way up into second place on the last lap of the race before getting passed on the back straight by Ducati riders Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia, leading to a 4th-place finish.[13] In the second race the following week Mir qualified in the middle of the field and finished 7th behind teammate Rins, but the race was most notable for Mir's confrontation with factory Ducati rider, Jack Miller. The confrontation started when Mir attempted an overtake in which he had to pick up his bike mid corner, nearly forcing Miller off the track. Miller later collided with Mir heading down the back straight, and after the race Mir was highly critical of Miller and argued that the Australian's actions were intentional.[14] Two weeks later in Portimao Mir started ninth and worked his way up to finish 3rd behind Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia, earning Suzuki's first podium for the season. Mir achieved a 5th place at Jerez before a crash at Le Mans in wet conditions, and his second podium in 3rd place in Mugello. Catalunya saw Mir finish in 5th once again, but was promoted to 4th following Fabio Quartararo’s 5-second penalty for removing his chest protector and riding with his leathers open. Following a 9th place at Sachsenring, Mir finished 3rd in Assen, earning his third podium of the year, as the season went into the summer break. At the grid returned to race for the double round in Spielberg, Austria, Mir collected his fourth podium of the season with a 2nd-place finish behind rookie Ducati rider Jorge Martín, who took his maiden MotoGP victory. Mir would finish 3rd in Aragón, and replicated his best result of the season with a 2nd-place finish in Portimao, before closing off the year with a 4th-place finish in Valencia, the season ender race. He finished 3rd in the rider's championship with 208 points, 44 points behind Francesco Bagnaia in second, and 70 points behind World Champion Fabio Quartararo.

2022

Mir missed a few rounds due to injuries sustained in Austria.

Repsol Honda Team (from 2023)

2023

Following Suzuki's departure from MotoGP, Mir signed with Repsol Honda for the 2023 season. He partnered six-time premier class champion Marc Márquez.[15]

Career statistics

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year1234567891011121314PosPts
2013AME1
AME2
JER1
JER2
ASS1
ASS2
SAC1
SAC2
BRN
SIL1
SIL2
MIS
ARA1
ARA2
9th107
2014JER1
JER1
MUG
ASS1
ASS2
SAC1
SAC2
BRN1
BRN2
SIL1
SIL2
MIS
ARA1
ARA2
2nd197

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearBike123456789101112PosPts
2013MIR RacingCAT1CAT2ARAALB1ALB2NAVVAL1
VAL2
JER40th1
2015HondaALG
LMS
CAT1
CAT2
ARA1
ARA2
4th153
Ioda HondaALB
NAV
JER1
JER2
KTMVAL1
VAL2

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

SeasonClassMotorcycleTeamRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcdWCh
Moto3HondaLeopard Racing100000NC
Moto3KTMLeopard Racing1813121445th
Moto3HondaLeopard Racing181013133411st1
Moto2EG 0,0 Marc VDS1804011556th
MotoGPSuzukiTeam Suzuki Ecstar1700009212th
MotoGPSuzukiTeam Suzuki Ecstar1417001711st1
MotoGPSuzukiTeam Suzuki Ecstar1806012083rd
MotoGPSuzukiTeam Suzuki Ecstar1600008715th
MotoGPHondaRepsol Honda Team1500002622nd
MotoGPHondaRepsol Honda Team7000013*18th*
Total14212332712372

By class

ClassSeasons1st GP1st Pod1st WinRaceWinPodiumsPoleFLapPtsWChmp
Moto32015–20172015 Australia2016 Austria2016 Austria371116254851
Moto220182018 Qatar2018 France1804011550
MotoGP2019–present2019 Qatar2020 Austria2020 Europe87113015971
Total2015–present13712332712372

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearClassBike1234567891011121314151617181920PosPts
Moto3HondaQATAMEARGSPAFRAITACATNEDGERINDCZEGBRRSMARAJPNAUS
MALVALNC0
Moto3KTMQAT
ARG
AME
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
NED
GER
AUT
CZE
GBR
RSM
ARA
JPN
AUS
MAL
VAL
5th144
Moto3HondaQAT
ARG
AME
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
NED
GER
CZE
AUT
GBR
RSM
ARA
JPN
AUS
MAL
VAL
1st341
Moto2KalexQAT
ARG
AME
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
NED
GER
CZE
AUT
GBR
RSM
ARA
THA
JPN
AUS
MAL
VAL
6th155
MotoGPSuzukiQAT
ARG
AME
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
NED
GER
CZE
AUTGBRRSM
ARA
THA
JPN
AUS
MAL
VAL
12th92
MotoGPSuzukiSPA
ANC
CZE
AUT
STY
RSM
EMI
CAT
FRA
ARA
TER
EUR
VAL
POR
1st171
MotoGPSuzukiQAT
DOH
POR
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
GER
NED
STY
AUT
GBR
ARA
RSM
AME
EMI
ALR
VAL
3rd208
MotoGPSuzukiQAT
INA
ARG
AME
POR
SPA
FRA
ITA
CAT
GER
NED
GBR
AUT
RSMARA
JPNTHAAUS
MAL
VAL
15th87
MotoGPHondaPOR
ARG
AME
SPA
FRA
ITA
GERNEDGBR
AUT
CAT
RSM
IND
JPN
INA
AUS
THA
MAL
QAT
VAL
22nd26
MotoGPHondaQAT
POR
AME
SPA
FRA
CAT
ITA
NED
GER
GBRAUTARARSMEMIINAJPNAUSTHAMALVAL18th*13*
Season still in progress.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Joan Mir is the 2020 MotoGP™ World Champion. Dorna. Sports. www.motogp.com.
  2. Web site: Joan Mir crowned 2017 Moto3™ World Champion! | MotoGP™. Dorna. Sports. www.motogp.com.
  3. Web site: Mir to Moto2™ with EG 0,0 Marc VDS in 2018. 2020-10-27. MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. en.
  4. Web site: Joan Mir 'Rookie of the Year' en Moto2. 18 November 2018.
  5. Web site: 2018-07-11. Mir confirmed at Suzuki in 2019 and 2020. 2020-10-27. www.motogp.com. en.
  6. Web site: Duncan. Lewis. 2019-08-20. Guintoli replaces Mir for Silverstone MotoGP race. 2020-10-27. www.motorsport.com. en.
  7. Web site: 2 April 2020. Suzuki confirms the renewal of Joan Mir for 2021 and 2022. 3 April 2020. MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. en.
  8. Web site: Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 2020-10-18. Rins beats Marquez in Aragon thriller, Mir takes points lead. 2020-10-27. The Race. en-GB.
  9. Web site: McLaren. Peter. 2020-10-26. 2020 Teruel MotoGP, MotorLand Aragon - Race Results. 2020-10-27. Crash.net. en.
  10. Web site: McLaren. Peter. 2020-11-08. European MotoGP, Valencia Ricardo Tormo - Race Results. 2020-11-08. Crash.net. en.
  11. Web site: Lewis. Lisa. 2020-11-08. MotoGP Europe: Mir's first victory puts title rivals on the ropes. 2020-11-08. Crash.net. en.
  12. Web site: Duncan. Lewis. 2020-11-15. MotoGP champion Mir: "I don't believe what is happening". 2020-11-15. Autosport.com. en.
  13. Web site: Duncan . Lewis . MotoGP champion Mir denied Qatar podium by "ambition" . Motorsport.com . 29 March 2021 . Motorsport . 10 April 2021.
  14. Web site: Joan Mir accuses Jack Miller of intentional collision on Doha GP straight . ESPN . 4 April 2021 . 10 April 2021.
  15. Web site: Duncan. Lewis. Honda signs 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir for 2023. 30 August 2022. 1 November 2022. Motorsport.com.