Joan Mir: Indonesia MotoGP tyre, track combination “critical”

The combination of the tyres and the track surface at the Indonesian MotoGP make for a “critical” situation, according to Joan Mir.

The Spanish rider was sixth-fastest in Practice at Mandalika after a day that saw several riders crash, including newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez who fell twice in the afternoon session and missed the top-10 with the 11th-fastest time.

Mir explained that the conditions made for a tricky day, with mistakes easy to commit.

“It was easy to make a mistake and crash because this asphalt and tyre combination is critical, so it’s not easy to get a good feeling on the bike,” Joan Mir said after Practice in Indonesia.

“Despite that, I was able to stay constant, to make a solid day, I would say. 

“It’s not my favourite track, it’s not a track that I enjoy riding – and we are fast! So, happy.

“Still some things to check, some things to improve. 

“For me, it means a lot to be strong in this track; it means that we can be strong in tracks that I perform in a better way. So, this day gives me a bit of calmness for the rest of the season.”

The results sheet generally saw an unusual order, with two Hondas and three Yamahas in the top-10, but only two Ducatis; while at KTM Pedro Acosta was the fastest in third overall, and Brad Binder was next-best in 13th and half-a-second slower than his teammate.

Mir echoed the thoughts of Fabio Quartararo on the cause of this, in that it came down to rider feeling.

“That’s why probably you see the timesheets and you don’t understand what’s happening because there are people that struggle in the past races then here are strong, and the opposite thing, but on the bike you understand more because the feeling is so bad,” the Honda HRC Castrol rider said.

“If you, for some reason, you have a better feeling than the others you can do something more. 

“But, for me, the important thing was to work alone, to make the lap time alone, for myself, and it’s what I did. 

“Not a fantastic lap time, I would say, but safe. Today was important.”

It was put to Mir that perhaps the reason he excelled on Friday at Indonesia was a consequence of the struggles he’s had with Honda since joining in 2023, that by pushing on the limit with a bad feeling on the bike gave him an advantage when the rest of the field also struggled to find a good feeling on-track.

“Maybe that helped, probably yes,” Mir laughed.

“When you are used to going with a bad feeling, once everyone has this bad feeling you are in advantage! Sounds wild but is a bit the reality.”

Speaking more seriously, he added: “On top is that the base we have now on the bike is much better, so it for me was a natural thing to go to Q2 because we had a very good pace.

“So, the pace is good, the lap time is good. It’s not that we made a huge lap time and then our pace is bad. I don’t think that way. 

“I think probably we have a better pace than the lap time itself, and this is probably the way to keep improving.”