“A risk I wanted to take” - Joan Mir explains Gresini Ducati MotoGP move

Former MotoGP world champion Joan Mir says giving up factory team status is a sacrifice he is willing to make in exchange for competitive machinery.

Mir has spent his entire eight-year premier-class career with factory teams, at Suzuki and then Honda.

However, after managing just two podiums in almost four seasons with Honda, the Spaniard will follow the path of former HRC team-mate Marc Marquez by joining Gresini Ducati for the new 850cc/Pirelli era in 2027.

“When you move to a satellite team you give up many things, as you can imagine, but also it’s a move I wanted to do,” said Mir.

“It’s a risky one because with a competitive package you expose yourself [if you don’t perform], but it’s a risk I wanted to take.

“I don't know how many more years I will be in MotoGP, but the reality is that this year I will be 29, and now I’ve signed for two more years.

“It's time to go back to being competitive. It’s time to do it. Our careers are not very long.

“I'm so happy. From the sporting side, it's the best chance I could get.”

Joan Mir: “I'm still very hungry”

Mir, who has secured a factory spec bike at Gresini, also pointed to his long list of crashes as proof of how determined he remains to succeed in MotoGP.

“If I continue pushing, crashing almost every week, standing up, trying again… never giving up, it's because I'm still very hungry and I want it so bad,” Mir said.

“It's about what I feel, and I want to be back where I think that I deserve.

“I don't do this for other people, because people forget everything very quickly, good or bad.

“But I did it for myself.

“If I decided to stop now, in the future, on the beach, I would say: ‘Maybe if I continued two more years I could do something more.’”

“And this is exactly how I feel.”