Mir loses ‘confidence with the front tyre’ in FP1, but has ‘margin’ to improve

Following a tough opening day at the British MotoGP, Joan Mir said no specific sector was a problem, instead ‘every part of the track’ was an issue even after going faster in FP2.
Joan Mir, British MotoGP, 27 August 2021
Joan Mir, British MotoGP, 27 August 2021
© Gold and Goose

After missing the 2019 BritishGP as a rookie due to injury and the 2020 event being cancelled, Joan Mir finally got his first taste of the Silverstone circuit on MotoGP machinery. 

It turned out to be a tougher Friday than expected for the Suzuki rider as confidence with the front tyre in FP1 limited his potential. 

The world champion did improve things slightly in FP2, however, P13 is a long way away from the type of performance we saw in Austria. 

Mir said: "I had some trouble today. In FP1 something was not right with the front tyre. I lost a lot of confidence. 

"Then in FP2 it was much better but I needed more laps. We have to adjust everything well. 

"FP1 was a lost practice so we had to build some speed from FP2. I was not competitive today. The lap I did was the pace I had. It’s clear."  

The issues for Mir weren’t specific to one sector, but instead to the whole track as electronics adjustments are to come. 

Another concern Mir had was his race pace - usually his strength even if one lap performance isn’t where it needs to be.

"I’m not having problems in one sector. I’m having problems in every part of the track. We have to adjust electronics of the bike," added Mir. 

"Then we have to work a lot more on the setting. The data and feedback we gave today will be really important. 

"We saw that even with all the problems we had I was 0.3s behind Alex, who was the last winner here. It’s only the first day here and there is much more room for improvement. 

"But I don’t like to be in this position on a Friday. 13th is not the best result to end the first day. 

"We will try to make an improvement but not only on the lap time. 

"I’m more worried about the race pace I don’t have. I was not confident. But every exit I was faster, which means there is margin."

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