“Last race, last moment” - Quartararo and Mir talk team orders in MotoGP fight

Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir say they will not expect team orders to become a factor in their bid to win the 2020 MotoGP World Championship until it really matters, saying they would give the same support they expect in a clinch situation.

While this year’s title race has proven immensely unpredictable, the Catalunya MotoGP race last time out broke the lead pack into four out front - Quartararo, Mir, Maverick Vinales and Andrea Quartararo - within 25 points, equivalent of a race win.

With only six races remaining over the next seven weekends, the dynamic is likely to change fairly rapidly now meaning shifts in the team approaches could become an important factor in deciding the outcome of the title.

Indeed, given the closeness of the race, team orders could play a huge role for a rider like Quartararo, who has three competitive Yamaha counterparts flanking him. Nonetheless, he insists he would never expect team orders until they were necessary, adding he would do the same if Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli was in a similar situation.

“For me there will be no team orders, I am fully focused on every race. My team-mates need to fight for victory and it is not the last race. For sure, if in the last moment in the last race and we need to play something, then there will be some team orders. 

“If it is reversed and Franco was fighting for the championship in the last race for sure I will help, but there will be no team orders until the last race of the season, this is the best thing to fight for a championship.”

For Mir and his Suzuki team-mate Alex Rins, the same is also true, with both confirming they would go to the effort of supporting one another for the manufacturer if they weren’t in contention too.

“Alex has the chance to win, so I think if in the last two races or last race, if one rider is not able to win the championship and the other one can, then I think there will be team orders.

“Yes [I would help Joan]”, Rins added. “If I don’t have the chance to win then I will try to help Joan. I did it with Honda in Moto3 with Alex Marquez, so it makes sense. 

“If you want to put the team on top and you have no chance in the championship then you need to help him win the championship

“I will give him some money...’ Mir joked in response.

Ahead of Quartararo’s home French MotoGP in Le Mans, he leads Mir by eight points.