Joan Mir crisis: ‘I didn’t think everything would be easy when I came to Honda’

Engineers explain that assessing certain situations where subjective factors occur is complicated because they believe that anything that cannot be expressed in numbers is unreliable. “In situations like this, it’s best to rely on trending statistics,” one of them recently told me following the controversy caused by allegedly overly aggressive drivers at the World Cup. .

And that’s how we’ve relied on to assess a difficult start to the season. Joan Mill. We’ve all seen things go wrong for him, but when you analyze his numbers, it’s “terrible.”

I wrote “terrible” in quotation marks because I could have used less radical words such as gaudy, worrying, discouraging, or other synonyms, but the word “terrible” is the word in which Mir is placed. It refers not only to the current situation, but also to the dynamics of the situation at the time. It was trailing before it joined the ranks of Honda. Because Joan’s crisis began long before that, specifically with Suzuki’s GGPP withdrawal announcement a year ago. From there his trajectory took a sharp turn.

numbers

I always say that statistics is the most imperfect part of mathematics, but in the case of Joan Mill it reveals an indisputable situation. It doesn’t matter from which point you start the analysis.

His season has had a very difficult start. Of the eight races held (4 sprints, 4 full distances) he crossed the finish line only twice and his best result was 11th in Portugal. In the remaining six games, he went on the field five times without returning to Argentina through injury.

After last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Mir leads the fall rankings in three categories of the world championship, including the ‘crazy’ Moto3 category. He fell to the ground eight times during GP week, and that must include the test crashes. That’s the same number of falls he’s had all through 2021, and just three fewer than he’s had in the 20 GGPPs in 2022. Recall that only four GGPPs are in dispute.

Seeing the glass half full, these numbers show Mir is doing everything in its power to compete with Honda, which is looking for a competitive edge it lost years ago. By the way, this dynamic that Pol Espargaro and Alex Marquez also experienced. The Honda rider has had over 20 crashes per season on HRC bikes. As with them, Joan’s crash didn’t happen while competing for the top spot, nor when he was in the top 10, but in the backseat of MotoGP. Complex situation.

come from afar

But it’s not fair to blame Honda alone for the crisis Joan Mir is in. The numbers also reveal another reality. Part of what is happening now stems from the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix when Suzuki announced its withdrawal from the GGPP from 2023.

If Joan’s season had been acceptable (3/6 and 1/4) up until that moment, Mir’s performance collapsed after Suzuki’s announcement. Fall after waterfall and teammate Rins starring in a stunning championship final, but just barely making it into the top ten.

Let’s look at the numbers again. In the last 22 MotoGP races, Mir has crossed the finish line only seven times, finished in the top ten only three times and has never finished on the podium. The 2022 World Cup has ended

In the interim championship, he is 20th behind Marc Márquez, but 15th.

Like all statistics, Joan Mir’s numbers may be full of nuances, but they nonetheless reflect a very difficult reality. Obviously, we wanted to talk to Joan to get her point of view, but they replied that due to her environment, she doesn’t think this is the time to talk much. “Now is the time to do whatever it takes to move this project forward.”

notch of trust

Mir did speak up at the last Spanish Grand Prix, admitting that whether he wanted it or not, his multiple falls left scars in his subconscious.

“Every drop goes into the CPU and always has an impact in the long run. It’s not a fact yet, but it’s true that every drop robs you of confidence. You know when you go into a corner and lean a little bit to turn a little bit ”Furthermore…! Boom! And then you think, ‘I need more speed in each corner, but I can’t lean, so what can I do?’

I don’t think the bike matters at the front. However, the top speed is not high and the grip is not good, so you want to do everything on the approach and you will crash. Logically, it should have a little better top speed and a little better grip. A little bit from there, and from now on.

It’s a situation where you have to be relatively calm, patient, and try to take small steps… It’s hard, it’s hard… I didn’t think it would be easy when I got here, but obviously it is. It’s one thing to say and live it… No, I don’t enjoy it. ”

test failure

The post-GP test at Jerez was important for Mir to take the small step he requested over the race weekend. Joan and his brand mates Rins and Nakagami were hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the plethora of new parts HRC sent for testing. But the frustration was clear in a statement Monday afternoon. pilot sling.

Even Nakagami, who has always refrained from criticizing, said the test was disappointing. “Yes, it was frustrating.

Mir wasn’t direct, but his speech made clear the difficult day that brought a new downfall. Specifically at turn #6 he had already crashed twice over the weekend. The most braking curve on the circuit.

“It’s been a pretty chaotic day. etc. One of them seems to have helped a little in turning and removing wheelies in high speed corners, which is part of the purpose of this wing. I feel better.

Then we went back to a slightly different chassis for the morning. It’s something we tested during preseason and we can’t squeeze out 100% like we do now. But when I came back, I liked it even more and felt better.

Then we had an accident and were left without fairings because we only had one fairing each. This forced us to revert to a slightly worse standard fairing.In the afternoon, at the last minute, I tested the chassis I was testing

Bradl was unlucky when his bike stopped after one lap. I had to go back to the box and take the other standard bike.

But it gave me time to realize that it’s very different, that it’s a different chassis concept, that the bike has positive things, but I’m going to rush it there is no. The bike is certainly easier to ride, but the point here is to be faster. ”

Exit

Looking at the stats and listening to Joan, the picture of Mir’s present and future is not very rosy. He has lost one of the virtues that helped him win the MotoGP World Championship: his steadfastness. A solidity that is essential to recover at this time. Not only for him, but also for those who have to make their bikes competitive.

Anxiety about getting out of the hole he’s in gets him nowhere. Sure, it’s understandable to see yourself in a position that isn’t commensurate with yours and want to take a bigger step than your current leg allows, but for that reason many times in the early stages of the race You will fall to the ground. …that’s the first thing to fix, priority 1. If the bike Honda is forcing you to ride now he can’t finish 15th or higher, then leave it. With experience and obtained data, he and his technicians can move forward, but without experience and data there is no progress.

Joan Mir’s current situation calls for tranquility. Yes, it’s clearly a term against the ethos of the race, but at this point Joan has to fix it, not just compete.