MotoGP’s unluckiest rider ‘should be up there’ with the top Honda
Misfortune prevents MotoGP's unluckiest rider from being his factory's top performer
MotoGP’s most unfortunate rider just can’t catch a break.
Joan Mir was wiped out of the Czech MotoGP at the weekend due to an incident of Alex Marquez’s doing.
Notably, he was involved in clashes with Fermin Aldeguer (Assen), Jack Miller (Aragon) and Ai Ogura (Sachsenring) too. On every occasion, he would be justified in pointing the finger at his rivals.
The factory Honda rider has eight DNFs in 12 grands prix.
The luckless Mir then had his flight home from Czechia cancelled on Sunday night.
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“It’s unbelievable, he must be riding around waiting for someone to hit him,” Peter McLaren told the Crash MotoGP podcast.
“He said that he doesn’t believe in bad luck, and he put forward a reasonable theory…
“They lose in top speed, so he thinks it sucks the others into trying a move, but he is strong on the brakes, so they then release the brakes to try to pass. Then incidents happen.
“It has been all over the place but the end result is the same: he has been on the ground.
“He should be up there with Johann Zarco. In terms of raw speed, Mir has been a challenger for him. But in the championship he is nowhere near.
“They have both fallen 15 times. Zarco’s seem to have been in practice. Mir’s seem to always be in the races.”
LCR Honda rider Zarco is eighth in the MotoGP standings with 109 points. Mir is 19th with 32 points.
Alex Marquez told to 'tidy up' messy tangles
The blame for Mir’s latest DNF was accepted by Alex Marquez.
The Gresini rider was given a long lap penalty for the next grand prix, which Lewis Duncan told the Crash MotoGP podcast was “a fair enough punishment”.
He added: “Alex’s explanation feeds into Mir’s reason for all of these incidents.
“Alex said he wasn’t attempting an overtake, he was just seeing if it was possible, and he ended up on the inside.
“Given the speed advantage of a Ducati over a Honda, it was stupid to be looking at a move there. Do it somewhere safe, somewhere where you’ve got a run.
“There was no real need to do that. It was clumsy.
“Alex didn’t have a great weekend. Ultimately he didn’t do the banking lap. Pecco Bagnaia did, and got pole because of that.
“We have seen this before from Alex. In Austin [2023] he got tangled up with Jorge Martin. We see this too much from Alex.
“If Alex has any designs on being a championship challenger next year, he needs to find another level, but he needs to tidy this up.
“If he hadn’t had problems and continued to finish second in every race, the gap wouldn’t be that big. Marc couldn’t be comfortable.
“Jerez and Austin, when Marc crashed, Alex ended up with the championship lead. He needs to get back to that consistency.
“If Marco Bezzecchi’s results keep going in the way that they are, [Alex] could find problems there.
“A single long lap penalty is a fair enough punishment.”
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
