Joan Mir was ready to sign at Suzuki - Honda, Yamaha rumours ‘false’

Mir’s manager Paco Sanchez told Crash.net they knew 'absolutely nothing' about Suzuki’s plans to leave, which are understood to have been communicated to the race team during Monday’s test.

Before the bombshell news leaked out, Sanchez said Mir had been ‘really close’ to signing a new contract to stay with Suzuki for 2023 and beyond.

After detailed meetings in both Portimao and Jerez, Sanchez had expected Mir's new deal to be officially announced either next weekend at Le Mans, or by Mugello at the latest.

But in the face of an ‘unacceptable’ silence from the Suzuki headquarters over its future in the sport, Sanchez now has no choice but to rapidly start negotiations with 'almost all MotoGP teams'.

What is Joan Mir's MotoGP future?

With such talks only a few days old, Sanchez insisted rumours that Mir has already signed with Honda or Yamaha for 2023 are ‘completely false’. Instead, further meetings to try and find an alternative ride for Mir are now scheduled for the next round in France.

“I hope I can find a good bike for Joan,” Sanchez told Crash.net. “We’re also worried about the whole team staff. They are super professional people. If Suzuki confirms the [exit], I hope they can find good jobs. There are many families living a nightmare right now.”

Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins is also out of contract at the end of this season. Suzuki team manager Livio Suppo, who also appears to have had no prior knowledge of the Boardroom decision, had previously indicated the team wished to keep both Mir and Rins for 2023.

Dorna 'officially contact' Suzuki

A statement from Dorna read: "Following recent rumours of Suzuki departing MotoGP at the end of 2022, Dorna Sports has officially contacted the factory in order to remind them that the conditions of their contract to race in MotoGP do not allow for them to take this decision unilaterally.

"However, should Suzuki depart following an agreement between both parties, Dorna will decide on the ideal number of riders and teams racing in the MotoGP class from 2023.

"Dorna continues to receive high levels of interest from a number of both official factories and Independent Teams looking to join the MotoGP grid as the sport continues to set a global example of close competition, innovation and entertainment, reaching hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

"Interest from these parties has been re-confirmed in the past 24 hours."