Tyre temperature and launch control to blame for Joan Mir’s tough Czech MotoGP Sprint

Joan Mir says “all of the pieces were there” for a good result in the Czech MotoGP Sprint but a combination of tyre temperature and launch control issues saw him finish 19th on Saturday at Brno.

Mir qualified a solid fifth on Saturday morning, but was totally unable to capitalise on this in the afternoon, as he ran on at turn three on the opening lap and dropped to last.

“Today we had something really positive in Q2, I was really happy to do this lap time and start on the second row,” said Joan Mir.

“Also, my pace in the morning session was good and honestly, I was really optimistic for the Sprint.

“A couple of things happened in the Sprint.

“First, I had a problem with the launch control – I pressed it, but nothing happened.

“So maybe I didn’t press it correctly or something was not working properly, we will check. I lost two or three rows with this.

“Second, I went to brake, and I realized I had a problem with the rear being cold into turn [three] so to avoid Zarco I had to go straight.

“I was last by a long way, then spent some time warming the rear and it wasn’t until the final two laps that the tyre was operating correctly.

“We need to check everything because all of the pieces were there for a much better result.”

“Tricky day” for Marini

For Mir's Honda HRC Castrol teammate, Luca Marini, Saturday was better than Friday, because on Friday he was last in Practice and on Saturday he was at least in the pack.

He could only manage 15th in the Sprint, but also felt like his physical condition had improved over Sachsenring last week, which was his first MotoGP race since May after sitting out Aragon, Italy, and the Netherlands through injury.

“I think we could have achieved more starting further ahead, but it was a tricky day,” said Marini.

“My start off the line was good in the Sprint but my speed wasn’t there to stay with the likes of Pol Espargaro] who made good progress.

“My physical condition feels better already compared to Sachsenring, so this was a positive improvement already in not much time.

“It’s not the result that we aim for, so we need to see what we can do overnight to make another step. Normally we are able to find something a bit more on Sunday.

“At a big track like Brno, you can really make full use of a MotoGP bike, and we could see more our areas where we need to improve.

“I know that Honda HRC’s engineers are working, so we just need some patience.”