Joan Mir Portuguese MotoGP Sprint halted by “strange feeling”

Joan Mir retired from the Portuguese MotoGP Sprint on the first lap after sensing a problem at the start, costing him “an opportunity”.

Having seemed in podium contention after Friday, Mir had a relatively underwhelming qualifying in seventh, but for the Sprint it was not as consequential as what happened at the start, as Mir encountered a technical problem immediately and retired.

Speaking afterwards, Mir said that the Honda HRC Castrol team was still diagnosing the problem, and all he could say is that it was related to the clutch.

“In the Sprint race, I had a problem from the start with the clutch,” Joan Mir told MotoGP.com after the MotoGP Sprint in Portugal.

“I don’t have many [information] – we have to understand what happened, to see if it was a mistake that we can avoid in the future, or whatever. 

“But I don’t have more information. It was a shame because I think we had an opportunity again today.”

Mir added that he felt it for the first time on the race start, not on the warm-up lap.

“[I felt it] for the first time on the start, this is the strange thing,” he said.

“I think that it’s something that tomorrow we will solve well. But the thing is to understand well why: what I did, or what happened, or whatever.”

Marini frustrated by lack of “overall rhythm”

Mir's teammate Luca Marini started the Sprint inside the top-10 after a strong start, but ended up outside the points in 12th.

From the Italian’s perspective, it was confirmation that the Portuguese weekend is not going to plan as a result of a lack of ability to adapt to the lack of grip available at Portimao.

“A really frustrating day, missing Q2 compromised our race today but also we are lacking something in our overall rhythm,” Marini said.

“I had a moment at turn five on one lap where I lost a bit of ground but it’s a trickier weekend than we expected, speaking honestly. 

“We need to try and improve the grip; the circuit is a little greener. We are learning and taking more information for next year, it’s important to always be moving forward.”