Mir: Starting on the second row is like pole position for Suzuki

Based on his performance last weekend and an overall impressive track record at the Red Bull Ring, Joan Mir could have another chance at making inroads on Fabio Quartararo’s championship lead this weekend. 

Mir is currently 51 points back on Quartararo with only 8 scheduled races left, which means out-performing the Yamaha man as he did during the Styrian GP will need to become a consistent trend if he’s to defend his title. 

Before the summer break, Yamaha and Quartararo seemed to have a clear advantage over the Suzuki man, however, the Japanese manufacturer’s new rear ride height device was introduced last weekend and produced impressive gains. 

But with that said, Mir is not looking at the title picture, instead choosing to focus on improving his qualifying which also took a positive turn five days ago. 

"Well, I just think that we did a great race. I don’t think about whether we will get the title at the end or not," said Mir. 

"The first point to think about is; well it’s clear that Suzuki did a great job this summer to find something more. Finally this (rear ride height device) looks like it worked. We could see better performance. 

"It is so important to qualify well. For me to start in the second row is like starting in pole position. It’s a lot of work you don’t have to do in the first laps, and then also you save a lot the tyre. 

"Many times I started from P14 or P11 and it’s possible to arrive at the podium and maybe one day you will get one victory. Who knows! 

"But to fight for a title or if you want to be strong in every race - starting in that position it’s not possible. 

"We have to continue improving in that area. For sure if we improve the pace, we will improve the lap time, this is clear. We are following the right steps to try to improve this."

One area where Mir is still looking to improve which hasn’t quite materialised is getting race wins. 

The Suzuki rider’s championship win last year was based on impeccable consistency, not outright speed, which until last weekend had been lacking.  

"Last year we were able to get the title just for consistency, but at the beginning of the year I said I wanted to try and win more races and try to be faster. So at the moment I’m not looking at any championship," added Mir.