Team Suzuki Ecstar rookie Joan Mir continued his good run of form to finish seventh at the HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, making it three-consecutive top-eight finishes in Barcelona, Assen and at the Sachsenring.
Mir started from P9 at the German GP and made a good start, but the Spaniard soon found himself embroiled in a race-long battle with the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP of Valentino Rossi and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini of Aleix Espargaro also giving him grief.
A little something to pick you up this Monday morning! Watch the boys battling around Sachsenring circuit ????????@MotoGP #SUZUKing #TurnUpTheVolume #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/OlkN4ObcD1
— Team SUZUKI ECSTAR (@suzukimotogp) July 8, 2019
It was a battle for fifth place before teammate Alex Rins suffered his second consecutive DNF after crashing out at the top of infamous ‘The Waterfall’, meaning Mir was left with the duty of picking up the sole Suzuki points again. And that’s exactly what he did, the 2017 Moto3™ World Champion did his best to put his GSX-RR ahead of the GP19 triplets but he would have to settle for P7, the quartet crossing the line just six tenths apart.
“It was a really fun race, at the beginning I didn’t make my usual start, I started well. And these conditions, I killed the tyre a little bit at the beginning, and then on the last laps I was struggling a little bit,” explained Mir.
“It’s a shame because today I felt I had a little bit more than seventh position, but for me it’s difficult to fight with the Ducatis. We will try to improve in this area, to be stronger, but really happy about all the potential in these last races and I think that we are in a good way.”
The last three races have been very positive for Mir, battling with some of the fastest and most experienced guys in the premier class will only help the 21-year-old get stronger. A 2019 podium challenge doesn’t seem to be too much of an ask if Mir can continue his good form into the second half of the season and at the Czech GP in three weeks’ time, the rookie will be aiming to pick up where he left off in Germany.
“Well now after the summer break, we have to start in the positive we are now and try to improve again in the second half of the season. I think it’s possible, we still have a lot of things to improve, a lot of things to learn and we will see.”