Mir “angry” at MotoGP title loss as he is now a "better rider”

The reigning world champion finished Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix at Misano in sixth after being demoted a place for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

But with Fabio Quartararo finishing second on his Yamaha, his advantage over third-placed Mir has extended to 67 points with four races to go – a bridge, the Suzuki rider admits now, is too far for him to defend his title.

Mir admits the fact he is riding better in 2021 but will come away from the year without the title is “difficult to understand”, with Suzuki having developed its GSX-RR very little from 2020.

Despite this, Mir sees the final races as an opportunity to better prepare for the 2022 season.

“I’m a bit angry because I know my potential of this year and I’m angry because I’m riding better, I’m making less mistakes, I’m a better rider and I will not get the championship,” Mir said.

“It’s difficult to understand. But, what also I have to say is making me happy is Suzuki is going in the same direction.

“We all see what is happening and I believe that they are pushing as hard as they can.

“We can think that the next races are like a pre-season, like every race is an opportunity to give some information and make some improvements on the bike that for sure we need.

“And I think it’s the most clever way. Of course, if now I have the opportunity to win some races and make some manoeuvres at the end of a race and all this stuff, I don’t care if I make a zero.

Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“So, it changes everything a little bit. But I have to have the opportunity to win that race.

“Today, honestly, I had fun. In the last lap it was like we were competing for more than fourth place. So, I had fun with Marc [Marquez] and with Jack [Miller].”

Mir says he has already spoken with Suzuki to ensure it gets its 2022 title charge going from the opening round of the campaign next year and has already “felt a reaction” from the team.

“It was a point of the season that we spoke about this and straight away they realised, straight away I felt a reaction,” he added.

"Of course you always as a rider try to push to get more and more, but now I can’t complain about the work that they are doing, because I think they are doing everything they can to bring good stuff.

“Okay, I’m disappointed because if we started in a different way in the first race with another situation, now I’m sure that we would be in a different situation.

“But, this is a team, we learn from our mistakes and now I’m sure that we are going in the same direction.

“This is what I made sure a couple of months ago and now I know that they are working hard.”