Mir rues early laps behind Aleix; ‘he was not stronger, he was just in front’

Joan Mir took his fifth MotoGP podium of the season after bettering Aleix Espargaro and Jack Miller for third in Aragon.

Mir was running fifth during the opening part of the race until Miller - third at the time - ran wide at the final corner which allowed the Suzuki rider and Espargaro through.  

However, a slightly disappointed Mir felt like challenging for victory was possible had he not been stuck behind the Aprilia man.

While Mir eventually got past Espargaro, the front two of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez had already built over a three second advantage. 

The Spaniard was able to bring his lap times down and match the two leaders, but it was too little, too late for last season’s champion. 

"I tried to give my best but it was not enough to get the victory today. I think the problem was the first part of the race behind Aleix [Espargaro] and Jack [Miller], I lost a lot of time," said Mir.  

"Then I was probably doing the same pace as the guys in front. But it was not enough to finally fight for the victory. 

"I’m happy because we are working great, we miss probably a little bit more to fight for victories, but always a podium is nice." 

Speaking after the race, Mir also touched on exact difficulties he faced in trying to overtake Espargaro, as ‘acceleration and braking’ are areas that need improving. 

Mir added: "He was not stronger, he was just in front. I could see that the Aprilia was strong on acceleration. 

"He was able to stop the bike well. It’s always difficult to overtake that (type) of bikes, before it was easier to overtake on the straight, but now I’m not even able to be close.

"We are missing acceleration compared to the others. We are losing a lot on the straight, not for the engine, but just the acceleration. 

"I hope to make an improvement in that area and also on the braking area and let’s see."