“Very low battery” - Joan Mir battling mystery illness at Misano MotoGP
Joan Mir is struggling physically at Misano with a mystery illness
Honda’s Joan Mir says he has “very, very low battery” physically, after struggling to 20th in the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix sprint.
The high-grip asphalt at Misano has provided a boost for Honda this weekend, with Luca Marini qualifying sixth and finishing ninth in the sprint.
But 2020 world champion Joan Mir has struggled to match the pace of his stablemates throughout the weekend.
He qualified 17th on Saturday morning, before falling to 20th in the race, 22 seconds from the lead and just under 2.5s ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who crashed.
Explaining what went wrong, Mir says he is battling a mystery illness which is sapping his strength, with the Spaniard admitting “I don’t feel at 50%”.
“Well, not good,” he said when asked about his race.
“Today, I’m with a very, very low battery. I don’t know what happened.
“I already went to the doctor to understand a little bit what is happening, because I don’t have strength.
“I don’t feel at 100%… no, I don’t feel at 50%.
“So, more than the bike, it’s just trying to fix this, trying to understand what is happening.
“And next week, probably, we will understand and have treatment.
“I don’t think that tomorrow I will feel better. On Friday I was, more or less, but then it was getting worse. Nothing more to say.”
Mir has battled illness problems before at the San Marino Grand Prix, withdrawing from the 2024 race as a result.
At this stage, he is unsure if he will make Sunday’s 27-lap grand prix.
“I don’t know. We will go day by day,” he added.
“Tomorrow I will see how I wake up. It’s not that I feel bad on the stomach.
“It’s a little bit of a headache and not able to be precise - tired. I don’t know.”
Mir’s issues aside, Honda is on for a strong points haul on Sunday, after Marini, Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira finished ninth to 11th in the sprint.
