Mir: Off-line you cannot brake, overtake, you can’t do nothing

While 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir believes the Mandalika circuit is safe enough to race at, 'off-line you cannot even brake, you can’t do nothing' says the Suzuki rider.
Joan Mir, Indonesia MotoGP test, 12 February 2022
Joan Mir, Indonesia MotoGP test, 12 February 2022
© Gold and Goose

2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir has claimed the Mandalika circuit is safe to race at, although cleaning the track’s overall condition will need to take place ahead of next month’s grand prix according to the Suzuki rider. 

Mir, who finished day two of the official Mandalika MotoGP test fifth after setting a late time attack, believes the 4.310km (2.678 mile) circuit’s conditions are fine whilst on the racing line, however, it’s quite the contrary when forced off-line.

"Yes I think the track is safe," said Mir in response to whether the circuit was safe enough to race or not. "The thing is, yesterday was really dirty. In my case I crashed and I think most of the crashes (day two) is because of the high temperatures. 

"I was trying to do something more on the braking and then I lost the front. I was on the line. It’s true that if you lose a little bit the line then you lose completely the bike. 

"In my case I think the track is safe, but for the GP (bikes) they must work on cleaning the surface of the track in order to make off-line a better situation. 

"Also, if the track is like this for the race then we will not see any overtaking because there is only one line. Once you go out of this line you cannot even brake, you can’t do nothing. All you can do in these conditions is put the bike straight and release the brakes. It’s like this."

While MotoGP’s return to Indonesia for the first time in 25 years has proved challenging given the unpredictable weather and track conditions, Mir was also without two members of his team during today’s running following positive PCR tests. 

"Well today was difficult. It was a really busy day, honestly. We had positive people (failed PCR test) and on my side of the box there were two of them," added the Spanish rider. 

"This made our job a little bit difficult. These things are something that can happen and we have to be ready as best as we can. I was struggling a little bit today with the electronics side of the bike. 

"I couldn’t stay out for very long and I didn’t make a lot of laps because we need more time to fix it." 

Along with Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro, Mir was the only other rider unable to complete 50 laps or more due to the electronics issues. 

Aside from the on-bike problems he encountered, Mir also suffered an early crash as was the case for Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Martin. 

"Also I had a crash which for the guys makes the bike a bit more difficult. Was a difficult day but I felt strong on the bike," added Mir. 

"I worked a lot with the medium tyre and when we put the soft I felt an improvement with the grip and was able to be fast. I’m happy, and I think there is still some margin to be faster."

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