Joan Mir "angry" after Indonesian MotoGP crash: “Bike was unrideable, we missed something"

While team-mate Luca Marini fought for the podium for much of Sunday’s Indonesian MotoGP, Joan Mir’s race ended on just the second lap.

Fifth and the top Honda rider in Saturday’s Sprint, Mir felt he had a strong chance of repeating his Motegi podium in the grand prix.

However, after joining most of his rivals in switching from the soft to medium rear tyre, the Spaniard couldn’t generate enough heat in the opening laps and lost control at Turn 16.

“I'm angry today because we lost the opportunity to fight for another podium, but sometimes things happen like this,” said Mir.

“We have to understand what happened with the rear medium tyre, because the bike wasn't rideable the first two laps, to get the temperature was completely impossible.

“We have to analyse, because we have to do something different, because something is missing in that moment.

“It's not that I tried to overtake someone and I crashed. 

"I was behind, just trying to warm up the rear tyre, and at every braking point I was going wide without being able to push.

“So I'm very angry for that reason. 

"We have to understand what we did differently or what we can improve, because we missed something today, technically.

“So we will check and we will learn for the future.”

The “strange” Mandalika weekend

Mandalika is one of several circuits where Michelin supplies a reinforced rear-tyre construction to withstand extreme heat and stress.

“This track and this carcass is different. It's harder. For some reason, this year, well, this track was a nightmare for everyone,” said Mir.

“Also, when this ‘chaos’ happens, sometimes you have different people in front fighting, no?

“And it's a bit what happened today. The race was very slow, in terms of pace.

“It was a race that you had to control all the time, and I think that nobody was really able to push - just Fermin [Aldeguer], who did a great job.

“But I have the impression that it was very strange weekend. Everybody could have the opportunity to finish on the podium!

“So for one part, it's nice. For another part, we have to understand, to avoid this happening again, because now the consequences are bigger than in the past [because the Honda is more competitive]… So we pay a higher bill.”

Marini finished 9.1 seconds behind race winner Fermin Aldeguer but just 1.2 seconds from Alex Marquez and the final podium place.