After his huge Brno Test crash, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir jumped back on board his GSX-RR for the first time at the recent Misano Test. Afterwards, Mir caught up with his team to discuss how the injury layoff has been and how it felt riding his MotoGP™ thoroughbred again.
First thing’s first, how are you?
“I’m fine, I feel better, we went to Misano for a couple of days of testing and the initial feeling is quite good. I felt confident on the bike, even better than I expected. We spent two days there to carry on the improvements with the bike, and then we have two weeks to get ready for the GP of San Marino on this very same track.”
What was the worst part about the recovery? The point at which you suffered most…
“I spent almost two weeks in a bed, after that it’s difficult to feel strong when you start training again. That was tough. The first training I did was with the RM-Z bike at an MX track that is pretty flat, with just a few small jumps, and there I felt very tired, I had to stop after 5 minutes, it was really frustrating. But that was part of the recuperation and recovery, so finally I was happy that I did that training. That was only the beginning and every day I got better, more confident, and stronger. Here in Misano even though I’m not 100%, I’m very close.”
How was the feeling getting back on your bike? Were you more scared or excited?
“Not scared, I was excited. This comeback actually felt a lot like the very first time that I tried the GSX-RR MotoGP machine! I was more nervous than usual for only a test, but then it only took me a couple of corners in the first outing to regain the confidence and start to relax, then I started to really enjoy. I felt better and better after every run and finally also the good lap times started to arrive too.”
What kind of feeling did you have seeing Alex Rins and the Suzuki bike winning in Silverstone?
“I was so happy for Alex and for the team, they deserved it. Sincerely my feeling was frustration because the bike from outside was looking really good in Silverstone, Alex was able to do a really good race and not to be there, to compete beside my team and against the other MotoGP riders was disappointing. But of course I was really happy for the result and the Team, it was great to see them all looking so happy and enjoying the win.”
Head over to Suzuki’s website to read the full interview with the impressive MotoGP™ rookie, as he gears himself up for the San Marino GP on 13-15 September.