‘Everything is normal’ - Joan Mir adamant Suzuki hasn’t given up on final season
Although Suzuki aren't known for bringing a raft of upgrades throughout a MotoGP campaign, think more of Ducati or Aprilia for that, Mir remains adamant that the Hamamatsu-based manufacturer is giving the same amount of support as before making its shock announcement.
“We are not really used to receiving many parts in every race because it is not the philosophy of Suzuki,” said Mir. “But I did not feel anything [less than before], everything is like normal.”
An early season title contender, Mir has lacked consistent form ever since Suzuki announced its intention to leave MotoGP following the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
However, that could be about to change for the 2020 world champion after he secured P2 on the opening day of action at Silverstone.
A great track for Suzuki in the past, as highlighted by Maverick Vinales in 2016 and Alex Rins in 2019 when both riders took victory, Mir was not only strong on the medium tyre, but also the soft.
In need of better qualifying results to make his Sundays easier, the performance shown by Mir during the soft tyre run at the end of FP2 was very promising, as was the pace of team-mate Rins.
Mir added: "We’ve been quite competitive today, especially in FP2. I was able to be quite strong with the medium rear and then with the soft rear. There’s a couple of details we must improve but it was only the first day.
"I enjoyed riding the bike and I think we made a good job in the first part of the season to understand the bike. Today the bike was working well.
"In this track I felt a difference between the medium and the soft. Also, you could see that I made the lap time with the soft and the front [tyre] was quite okay to make a couple of laps.
"But for sure, I will be surprised if I can make the race with the soft front. I think last year that was the problem because I finished the race without a good pace.
"I think that was the fault so we will have to work tomorrow with the medium front on the race pace and try to build a bit more confidence and speed with that tyre."
Mir question's Silverstone MotoGP Long Lap length
Title favourite Fabio Quartararo was seen practicing his Long Lap penalty at length ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, during Friday practice.
But while some circuits have an average three second time loss, Quartararo was managing to complete the Long Lap loop in just over a second, making Mir question its length.
When asked if the Long Lap loop is too short, Mir said: "Maybe with this Long Lap penalty you gain more time than you lose [laughs]. For sure, you don’t gain time but it is not three seconds. Not at all. It’s not even one maybe.
"It’s a tight corner and also it is really close to the [white] line. In a slow corner you always lose less time than in a fast corner. I think this can be improved a little bit more to have that three seconds average."
